While You Were Sleeping is a 1995 American romantic comedy film directed by Jon Turteltaub and written by Daniel G. Sullivan and Fredric Lebow. It stars Sandra Bullock as Lucy, a Chicago Transit Authority token collector, and Bill Pullman as Jack, the brother of a man whose life she saves, along with Peter Gallagher as Peter, the man who is saved, Peter Boyle and Glynis Johns as members of Peter's family, and Jack Warden as a longtime family friend and neighbor.
| While You Were Sleeping | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Jon Turteltaub |
| Written by | Daniel G. Sullivan Fredric Lebow |
| Produced by | Roger Birnbaum Joe Roth |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Phedon Papamichael, Jr. |
| Edited by | Bruce Green |
| Music by | Randy Edelman |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $17 million[1] |
| Box office | $182 million[1] |
The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $182 million at the box office. Bullock and Pullman received praise for their performances. Bullock also garnered a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.
Plot
editLucy Eleanor Moderatz is a lonely fare token collector for the Chicago Transit Authority, stationed at the Randolph/Wabash station. She secretly loves Peter Callaghan, a handsome commuter, though they are strangers. On Christmas Day, she rescues Peter from the oncoming Chicago "L" train after muggers push him onto the tracks. She accompanies the comatose Peter to the hospital, where a nurse overhears her musing aloud, "I was going to marry him." Misinterpreting, the nurse tells his family that she is his fiancée.
The family admits they haven't heard from Peter in a long time so being engaged is a surprise. Lucy becomes too caught up in the crisis to explain the truth. She remains silent for several reasons: She is embarrassed; Peter's grandmother, Elsie, has a heart condition; and Lucy falls in love with Peter's big, loving family. While visiting Peter, she confesses her predicament to him, unaware Peter's godfather Saul overhears the truth and later confronts her. Saul finds that Lucy is alone, her mother died when she was very young and her dad just passed the year prior. He says he will keep her secret because the accident has brought the family closer and he knows that Lucy isn't being malicious.
With no family and few friends, Lucy becomes so captivated with the quirky Callaghans and their unconditional love for her that she is unable to hurt them by revealing that Peter does not know her. She spends a belated Christmas with them, then meets Peter's younger brother Jack, who is supposed to take over his father's furniture business, though he wants his own business. Jack is initially suspicious, but he falls in love with Lucy as they spend time together. She soon falls in love with him. They bond over their similar humor, their dreams of traveling, and their intense love for the Callaghans. Although their relationship comes to a momentary standstill when Jack, due to a misunderstanding, announces her "pregnancy" during her friend's New Year's Eve party, prompting them to have an argument eventually revealing their mutual dissatisfaction with life. Meanwhile, Peter's actual girlfriend, who we only know as Ashley, has agreed to marry him on his answering machine and leaves follow-up messages about his non-responsiveness, saying she has come back to town and wants to see him.
After New Year's Eve, Peter wakes up. He does not know Lucy, so it is assumed he has amnesia. Lucy attempts to tell the family the truth, but they assume she is telling them she's not really pregnant and they brush it off. Saul intercepts Lucy, saying he will handle telling the news to the Callaghans. Jack takes her back home and Lucy tells him she appreciates how kind he's been and says he's been a great friend. Jack is finally able to tell his father he doesn't want to take over the business and wants to make furniture. His father not only understands but says he should've told him sooner.
Saul visits Peter and tells him what a putz he is for how he treats women and he'd be lucky to marry Lucy, that she is special. Lucy and Peter begin spending time together and he realizes what a sweet girl she is. Meanwhile, Ashley Bartlett Bacon has come back to the city and finds from Peter's doorman that he's now engaged and he's in the hospital. She gets there and confronts him, saying they are engaged but he said no, they broke up when she turned down his offer not knowing she accepted over his answering machine. He tells her that he's a changed man and is marrying Lucy now. Lucy finds out that Saul never told the Callaghans she's not Peter's fiancée and goes back to the hospital to tell him herself. Peter tells Lucy how much he cares for her and proposes to her "again" and Lucy accepts, though she is now in love with Jack. When Jack visits her the day before the wedding, she gives him a chance to change her mind, asking if he can give her a reason not to marry Peter. He replies that he cannot, leaving her disappointed.
On the day of the wedding, just as a priest begins the ceremony, Lucy blurts out, "I object," and Jack chimes in, objecting to the wedding as well. Lucy finally confesses everything and tells the family she not only fell in love with all of them, but she loves Jack rather than Peter. At this point, Peter's real fiancée, Ashley, arrives and demands the wedding be stopped. A man also arrives objecting, and declaring he is Ashley's husband, to which the priest mutters "get in line." As the family argues, Lucy slips out unnoticed, unsure of her future.
Some time later, while Lucy is at work, Jack places an engagement ring in the token tray of her booth. He enters her booth and with most of the Callaghan family watching, proposes to her. Jack and Lucy are married and then leave on a CTA train for their honeymoon. Lucy narrates that he fulfilled her dream of going to Florence, Italy, and explains that, when Peter asked when she fell in love with Jack, she replied, "It was while you were sleeping."
Cast
edit- Sandra Bullock as Lucy Eleanor Moderatz, a lonely transportation worker.
- Bill Pullman as Jack Callaghan, a carpenter with scruffy charm.
- Peter Gallagher as Peter Callaghan, who is rich, handsome, and mostly gullible.
- Peter Boyle as Ox Callaghan, the head of the Callaghan furniture business who often makes wisecracks.
- Glynis Johns as Elsie, the slightly deluded grandmother.
- Micole Mercurio as Midge Callaghan, an extremely passionate and soft-hearted mother.
- Jack Warden as Saul Tuttle, Peter's Godfather and neighbor to the Callaghans.
- Jason Bernard as Jerry Wallace, Lucy's dry-humored boss.
- Michael Rispoli as Joe Fusco, Jr., Lucy's troublesome yet harmless neighbor who believes he invented aluminum foil.
- Ally Walker as Ashley Bartlett Bacon, the snarky and superficial real fiancée of Peter.
- Monica Keena as Mary Callaghan, the sweet and girlish sister of Peter and Jack.
Production
editBoth Demi Moore and Julia Roberts were offered the role of Lucy Moderatz but turned it down.[2]
After Disney's Hollywood Pictures acquired the script in 1994, it struggled to find interested actors. Meg Ryan was one of the first to turn down the role, as Lucy was initially meant to be the one who falls into a coma.[3]
Though the original screenplay was entitled “Coma Guy”, the title was changed shortly after the script was acquired by Caravan Pictures.[4] The original script was set in New York City, but for budget reasons, the setting was changed to Chicago where it was shot on location.[4] Filming took place from October 8 to December 14, 1994.[5]
Bill Pullman reportedly tried to quit the film after an infamous table read that producer John Glickman called, "the worst table read of all time", but was told by his agent he could not quit another film.[6]
Reception
editBox office
editThe film was a tremendous success, grossing a total of $182,057,016 worldwide against an estimated $17,000,000 budget. It made $9,288,915 on its opening weekend of April 21–23, 1995.[1] It was the thirteenth-highest grosser of 1995 in the United States.[7]
Critical response
editOn Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 81% based on 62 reviews with an average rating of 6.50/10. The site's critical consensus states, "While You Were Sleeping is built wholly from familiar ingredients, but assembled with such skill – and with such a charming performance from Sandra Bullock – that it gives formula a good name."[8] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on reviews from 20 critics.[9] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A on scale of A to F.[10]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote: "It's a feel-good film, warm and good-hearted, and as it was heading for its happy ending, I was still a little astonished how much I was enjoying it."[11]
Accolades
editBullock was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.[12] The film is recognized by the American Film Institute in 2002 with a nomination for the list AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions.[13]
References
edit- ^ a b c "While You Were Sleeping". Box Office Mojo.
- ^ Howden, Martin (January 7, 2011). "Great roles actors have turned down". Yahoo Movies. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011.
- ^ Gouzaire, Theo (February 16, 2024). "Why Bill Pullman Almost Quit 'While You Were Sleeping'". Us Weekly. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
- ^ a b Spencer, Ashley (April 21, 2020). "While You Were Sleeping' turns 25: An oral history of the Sandra Bullock rom-com favorite". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 26, 2020.
- ^ "While You Were Sleeping - Miscellaneous Notes". TCM Database. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
- ^ Brathwaite, Lester Fabian. "Why Bill Pullman wanted to quit 'While You Were Sleeping' — and why he wasn't allowed to". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
- ^ 1995 Yearly Box Office Results. Box Office Mojo.
- ^ "While You Were Sleeping (1995)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
- ^ "While You Were Sleeping". Metacritic. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
- ^ "While You Were Sleeping (1995) A". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (1995). "While You Were Sleeping movie review (1995)". Chicago Sun-Times.
- ^ "Winners & Nominees 1996". Golden Globes. Archived from the original on December 10, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
- ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions Nominees" (PDF). American Film Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 13, 2011. Retrieved August 20, 2016.