While You Were Sleeping

Dear Erica,

Why, oh why, does Bill Pullman have to muck up what is otherwise the PERFECT romantic comedy? I love, love, love, love, love this movie. It cemented Sandra Bullock as a bonafide movie star, proving that Speed was not just a fluke. She's so gosh-darn cute as poor Lucy Moderatz, who finds herself single and alone during the holidays. In the grand old tradition of Disney cartoons, she's even been orphaned by the death of her father, so we love her that much more. That she is so plucky amid all these depressing circumstances (that would turn most people into fat blobs or hoarders) not only makes the cake, but takes it.

It's not exactly a Christmas movie, but it takes place in December and there are plenty of twinkle lights to go around. When Lucy gathers around the fireplace with her newly adopted family, it makes me feel all warm and cozy, as if I had just sipped on a mug of hot cocoa. And what a family she has found herself a part of! The man she loves (Peter Gallagher) is in a coma, but his clan is so bubbly and inviting that any woman in her right mind would jump on train tracks to join them. Hell, some would push the guy off the platform, just to save him and have this family forever be indebted to her.

First and foremost, Glynis Johns plays the grandmother. She's a champagne swilling hoot, best known as the mom in Mary Poppins. It's great to see she has not been forgotten in her old age because she is a firecracker. Another favorite of mine is Micole Mecurio as the mom. This woman is some sort of comic genius and should play the mom in every romcom. That might put Linda Lavin out of work, but I don't care. Mecurio is better. Add to the mix Peter Boyle and Jack Warden and you have one big happy family, good for a heap of laughs.

Now back to Bill Pullman. He obviously doesn't ruin the whole movie, but where's Jon Hamm when you need him? Now he's the guy you'd fall in love with. Not Pullman, who always seemed to me less of a leading man and more like a smelly uncle. On Christmas morning, instead of a new watch or camping gear, you'd be more likely to give him soap-on-a-rope. If anyone was to fall in love with him, it would be Jodie Foster or Carnie Wilson. If they were somehow obligated to cast the guy, they should have at least had him switch places with Gallagher and put him in the coma. Then Sandra could have fallen madly in love with the better (and much better smelling) brother, which is something I might buy. As it stands, Pullman and Bullock have zero chemistry, therefore making the last act of the movie a tad dull.

I often put this movie in to go to sleep because by the time it begins to drag I am likely to be asleep. That said, I still think this is one hell of a great movie that always puts me in good spirits. Even more so at Christmastime. Pullman or no Pullman.

Till next time,
Bradley