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105 of 109 found the following review helpful:
 A Chick Flick that Guys can like too! Aug 31, 2004
By Mark J. Fowler
"Let's Play Two!"
For her work after "Speed" my brother began referring to Sandra Bullock as "Queen of the Chick Flicks", and I won't disagree, although some of her films work much better for members of both sexes than others. "While You Were Sleeping" is an entertaining film for Guys and Dolls, and it works in repeated viewings.
Sandra portrays Lucy Moderatz, who takes tolls on the L train in Chicago and from afar has an obsessive crush on the handsome, well-dressed Peter Callaghan, played by Peter Gallagher. The audience must willingly accept that someone as likable and attractive as Sandra Bullock is stuck in a dead-end job where she is lonely and works all the holidays because, after all, she doesn't have anyone to share them with. The movie doesn't give you much time to dwell on this because before you know it, Peter is getting mugged and knocked off Lucy's train station platform where he falls unconscious onto the path of a rapidly approaching train. Not surprisingly, Lucy jumps down and pulls the man of her dreams to safety. Lucy then follows the comatose Peter to the hospital where a nurse overhears Lucy in one of her daydreams say "this is the man I'm going to marry" - which naturally leads the nurse to think that Lucy and Peter are engaged when, in fact, the only words that have passed between them are when Peter paused to say "Merry Christmas" as he dropped his token into Lucy's toll booth.
Peter's wonderful family arrives and the misunderstanding of Lucy as Peter's fiancee is perpetuated. Lucy could have cleared up the whole misunderstanding from the first moments but:
1. Peter's family is wonderful and Lucy is lonely.
2. Peter's grandmother has a "heart condition" and Lucy fears that telling the truth may send Grandma over the edge. (The screenwriters were clearly searching for a reason for Lucy to not just fess up....)
3. Since Lucy has been fantasizing about Peter for awhile it's not that difficult for her to pretend to be his fiancee.
I've heard Roger Ebert say it's not as important *what* a movie is about as *how* the movie is about that thing.
This movie would be doomed to failure if it were only about some pathetic toll-taker who pretends to be engaged to her dream-boat to his family while he's in a coma. But Lucy isn't pathetic - she's as likable and attractive as, well, Sandra Bullock, and Peter's family is full of charming, likable folks. Peter, as things would have it, isn't as charming as Lucy dreamt. Although he used to be in the family business of antique furniture, he went to law school and now barely keeps in touch with his family. He has a bitchy girlfriend who is in Europe leaving calls on his answering machine while he is in a coma - one of the calls tells him "yes, I'll marry you".
Again - it's not difficult to guess where much of this is going. Bill Pullman plays Peter's charming, easy-going brother, Jack, who has stayed close to the family, running Dad's business. (There is an extremely well-done low-key scene close to the end where Jack tells Dad, played by Peter Boyle, that he wants to MAKE furniture instead of just dealing it - which will mean getting out of the family business. The scene has both a ring of authenticity, not yielding to any histrionic cliches, and at the same time maintaining the warm feelings that you've built up for both of these characters by this portion of the movie. These kinds of scenes *make* this movie.)
Jack Warden gets special kudos from me as Peter's godfather, Saul, who loves his godson, but also comes to love Lucy as well. Michael Rispoli steals a few scenes as "Joe, Jr." the son of Lucy's landlord. In the early scenes Joe comes across as a shorter, heavier Andrew Dice Clay wannabe. But by the end even Joe has become someone deserving our admiration. This is the kind of movie where you want nice things to happen to the characters - and the movie goes about it's business in a very satisfying way.
32 of 33 found the following review helpful:
While You Were Sleeping Mar 27, 2008
By Kelly
"Reviewer for The Sinfully Sensuous"
Lucy Moderatz lives a comfortable existence. Her days consist of working at the L train collecting tolls, hanging out with friends occasionally, and living with her pet cat. She develops a crush on Peter Callaghan who frequents her toll both daily. When he is attacked while waiting on the train, Lucy risks her own life to save his. While waiting at the hospital to hear of his condition, she makes the statement that lying in there is the man she was going to marry. A nurse overhears Lucy and assumes that she is Peter's fiancée when in fact it was just Lucy's overactive imagination. She intends to clear it up until his family barges in. Lucy doesn't want to upset the family any more than they already are, so she keeps the truth to herself for the moment. She is included in the family, and really made to feel a part of them, so then she can't bring herself to tell them the truth at all. Lucy, who has never really felt a connection to another man, starts to fall for Peter's brother Jack while everyone waits for Peter to emerge from his coma. When Peter does finally wake, all hell breaks loose!
Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman have incredible chemistry and on screen rapport as the romantic leads. The supporting cast could not have been chosen any better, and a personal favorite of mine - Peter Boyle was priceless! I just love this movie, and will keep it on hand to see time and time again.
36 of 39 found the following review helpful:
Blows "Sleepless in Seattle" right out of the water! Jun 29, 2000
By Becky
Forget all the rest, "While You Were Sleeping" is the best romantic comedy to come out of Hollywood in the past decade. Every moment of this sweetly endearing story will leave you with a warm and tingly feeling all over that won't wear off until long after the movie ends. In her first starring vehicle, an extremely appealing Sandra Bullock plays lonely subway worker Lucy and brings a warmth, freshness, and vulnerability to this character that everyone can identify with. After all, we've all had unrequited crushes on someone else at one point in our lives, but when Lucy saves the life of her "dream man" Peter, a hilarious comedy of errors ensues at the hospital when she is mistaken for his fiancee and passed off to his family as such. In the beginning, Lucy reluctantly plays along with the ruse, but as she falls in love with Peter's family and especially his brother Jack, she finds it very difficult to tell them the truth - that she is not engaged to Peter, indeed she has never even spoken to him! Bullock and Pullman shine as the two romantic leads who are loath to admit how attracted they are to each other, and the marvellous supporting cast add many laughs to this gem of a movie. This is a very entertaining way to spend over ninety minutes. You would have to be very hard to please if you didn't enjoy this movie about love at second sight. Film makers should shoot more stories like this!
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
classic romantic comedy May 31, 2002
By Byron Kolln
Sandra Bullock never has, and probably never will again, been able to top herself here in this now-classic romantic comedy. WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING is an endearing, romantic delight which only improves with multiple viewings.Sandra Bullock plays Lucy, a lonely subway worker who is infatuated with a man she has only admired from afar - Peter (Peter Gallagher). When Peter is attacked on the platform by some thieves, she saves his life when he falls onto the tracks. At the hospital, she is mistaken for his fiancee, and so begins the hilarious web of deception spun by Lucy in order to spend more time with Peter's enchanting, goofy family. However, Lucy has now taken a liking to Jack (Bill Pullman), Peter's roguish brother. What will happen when Peter awakens? If you haven't yet discovered this little gem, then I recommend that you buy it today! Also featuring Jack Warden, Glynis Johns, Monica Keena and Peter Boyle.
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
Perfect Romance for the Holidays! Dec 28, 2000
By Beth Ringsmuth
"bethringsmuth"
In the overfed, overtired stupor that was my Christmas Day 2000, I decided to watch this movie again, having seen it maybe five times before. I never realized before what a perfect holiday movie it is! Of course, it's funny and romantic, and Sandra Bullock is perfect in her role as the lonely toll booth worker (though she may be just a tad too beautiful to be entirely believable as a single woman) and Bill Pullman-funny, smart, boyishly handsome Bill Pullman-finally gets the girl in a film. But the movie also makes one realize the importance of family and people to love and be loved by, especially around those Major Holidays when we're usually too stressed out with gift-buying and feast-cooking to notice the really important thing-people. Watch this film some cold winter day, either alone or with loved ones, and you'll realize the same thing, along with being warmed from the inside out.
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