While You Were Sleeping is the feelgood movie I always find myself revisiting at this time of year. It is kind of ridiculous – but it is also funny, charming and utterly determined to lift your spirits.
Lucy Moderatz (Sandra Bullock) works as a token collector for the Chicago L train. Having lost her father the previous year, and with no family to speak of, she agrees to work over Christmas. Lucy has a crush on Peter (Peter Gallagher), a handsome commuter, who passes her kiosk every day in a whirlwind of perfect hair and 90s post-yuppie business attire.
Lucy witnesses Peter being mugged and knocked unconscious on the train tracks. With an oncoming train bearing down on them, she saves his life by hauling him to safety, but he falls into a coma. At the hospital Lucy is mistaken for Peter’s fiancee and, when she finds herself surrounded by Peter’s entire, eternally grateful family, she does not have the heart to correct them. One of them is Peter’s brother, Jack (Bill Pullman), whom Lucy quickly finds herself falling for.
While You Were Sleeping is almost as much of a screwball comedy as it is a romantic one. Of the many fun things about this film, the way it continually makes an utterly unbelievable situation seem quite believable is a particular pleasure. In many comedies where a small misunderstanding spirals rapidly out of control, I end up yelling at the screen for someone – anyone – to have just one honest conversation and put an end to it.
But I don’t do that with While You Were Sleeping. Lucy falls in love with the entire family. Every opportunity for her to come clean is hampered by the fact that, in so doing, she would hurt someone’s feelings, or tear apart the surrogate family life she so deserves. A little white lie becomes a web of deceit but at least it is weirdly understandable.
There has been some debate over the years over whether or not While You Were Sleeping is a Christmas movie. While it’s not strictly about Christmas, its setting during “the most wonderful time of year” is an integral part of the film. Christmas exacerbates Lucy’s loneliness, gives added weight to her actions and puts us firmly and unquestionably on her side.
And while we are primed for a corny tale of love at first sight, it rapidly becomes clear that Lucy was never really in love with Peter. It was just a crush, on someone she has never met. Gallagher quite brilliantly portrays Peter as more self-absorbed than malicious but, when he awakes from the coma, like a gender-reversed Sleeping Beauty, we discover he’s a bit of a jerk.
It’s also impossible not to be charmed to death by Bullock and Pullman’s chemistry. Whether they’re stress-testing the limits of Lucy’s story or pratfalling on ice together, they’re a joy to watch. Bullock makes Lucy hugely sympathetic, so you want her to end up with Jack – but more than anything you just want her to stay a part of this new family.
The rest of the cast is impeccable and every character is memorable in their own way. Of particular note is Saul (Jack Warden), who is in on the truth, and the great Peter Boyle, playing a far more likable dad than his more well known turn in Everybody Loves Raymond.
While You Were Sleeping is a romantic comedy, a farce and most definitely one of the best Christmas movies. If you’re looking for some cinematic cheer this holiday season – and a Die Hard alternative – it’s a triple threat of niceness and as wholesome as it gets.
While You Were Sleeping is streaming on Disney+. For more recommendations of what to stream in Australia, click here
