The Harvard study referred to was widely mis-quoted. It was a reflection of intelligent, very highly successful women in the 1980s discovering that when they were ready to settle into marriage, the marriagable men of their own age had been taken by "women who made getting married a priority".

It investigated a very small group, but was used widely to discourage women from competing against men in the workplace. In reality an expert said it best when she pointed out that the shortfall was because women were looking for men of their own age, and that there was no shortage of marriagable men, it was just that 'the good ones' weren't single men in their thirties and forties. Only the leftovers.

Annie Reed (Meg Ryan) is engaged to a perfectly nice mundane man, trying on her wedding dress, and realising that when Sam (Tom Hanks) described the magic of just holding his late wife's hand, he described something that she and millions of others yearned for.

Encouraged by her editor (Rosie O'Donnell) she sets out to find Sleepless in Seattle as the shrink had called him.

This story is told on two different coasts. Sam and his son are beginning to pick up their lives on a houseboat. Annie is embarassed to be so intrigued. Rosie O'Donnell's quirky best friend is a stereotypic character, but Ephron's dialogue is witty and true, and O'Donnell plays it straight, with fun and funny results.

Hanks and Ryan are personable leads. Attractive, but still playing ordinary people, they are the friends we wish we had, and they make believable and reachable romantic leads.

Rob Reiner, out from behind the camera, makes a great best friend for Sam, leading the plot along with effortless and subtle exposition.

Sam: "She wants to meet me on the top of the Empire State Building"

Son Joshua: "On Valentine's Day".

Sam's sister: "It's like that movie AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER."

SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE is an unashamed romantic comedy, and hits the hearstrings exactly on. We want Annie and Sam to get together. The woman who laughs like a hyena and the accountant with his allergies are okay people, not villains, just lacking in the spark of romance.

In the audience we want the sweet payoff that the romantic soundtrack featuring the likes of Louis Armstrong promises us.

In a world of getting to work, doing the chores and making do to get by, we'd all like to think that somewhere, sometime, we will have that special moment with that special someone.

SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE is a thoroughly undemanding and throughly enjoyable story of love and loss and finding the strength to try for more. Recommended.

(c) 1993" Columbia Tristar All Rights Reserved

by Ali Kayn Due for Australian release 1993 For credits and official site details, see below Search Festivale for more work by the film-makers below. See also: Hanks, Ryan and Ephron also collaborated in You've Got Mail

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Just the facts: Title: Sleepless in Seattle (1993) Written by: Nora Ephron, David S. Ward, Jeff Arch (scr); Jeff Arch (story) Directed by: Nora Ephron Music by: Marc Shaiman running time: 105 mins The Players: Rosie O'Donnell, Rita Wilson, Victor Garber, Bill Pullman, David Hyde Pierce, Rob Reiner, Official website: IMDb entry For session times of current films, use the cinema listings on the Movie links page. For scheduled release dates, see the coming attractions section. For more information about this movie, check out the internet movie database. For the latest additions to Festivale, check out the change history section.