Sleepless in Seattle(1993)

TriStar Pictures

PG
Rated PG for some language
1h 45m

Release Date: Jun 25, 1993 | Wide

A recently widowed man's son calls a radio talk-show in an attempt to find his father a partner.

Releases

Original Release | Jun 25, 1993

2018 Re-release (Fathom Entertainment) | Dec 2, 2018

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Box Office Results

All Releases (2)
Total US & Canada:
$126,808,165
Total International
$101,119,000
Total Worldwide:
$227,927,165

Total US & Canada:
$126,680,884
Total International
$78,580
Total Worldwide:
$126,760,065

Current Showtimes

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(U.S. Only)

Director & Top Cast

Nora Ephron
Director

Tom Hanks
Sam Baldwin

Meg Ryan
Annie Reed

Ross Malinger
Jonah Baldwin

Rita Wilson
Suzy

Victor Garber
Greg

Tom Riis Farrell

Rob

Carey Lowell

Maggie Baldwin

Bill Pullman

Walter

Le Clanché du Rand

Barbara Reed

Kevin O’Morrison

Cliff Reed

David Hyde Pierce

Dennis Reed

Valerie Wright

Betsy Reed

Frances Conroy

Irene Reed

Tom Tammi

Harold Reed

Calvin Trillin

Uncle Milton

Caroline Aaron

Dr. Marcia Fieldstone

Linda Wallem

Loretta

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo

Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United States

Language: English

Summaries

Plot Summary

Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks), a Chicago architect, loses his wife Maggie (Carey Lowell) to cancer. Sam's friend Jay Mattews (Rob Reiner) wants him to join a support group or seek therapy. Sam says that Chicago reminds him of Maggie. He and his young son Jonah (Ross Malinger) start new lives in Seattle, but Sam still grieves.18 months later, on Christmas Eve 1992, Jonah-who wants his father to find a new wife-calls into a talk radio show hosted by Dr Marcia Fieldstone of Network America. Jonah persuades Sam to go on the air to talk about how much he misses Maggie. Sam is not sleeping at nights and says that Maggie made Christmas beautiful. He says that every kid needs a mother. Sam doesn't believe that he would ever love anyone as much as he loved Maggie. Marcia dubs Sam "Sleepless in Seattle". Hundreds of women from around the country hear the program, and touched by the story, write to Sam. The network had called the next day and Jonah ended up giving their address to them.One of the listeners is Annie Reed (Meg Ryan), a Baltimore Sun reporter. She is engaged to Walter (Bill Pullman) but feels there is something missing from their relationship. Annie has just introduced Walter to her parents Cliff (Kevin O'Morrison), Barbara (Le Clanché Du Rand), sister Irene (Frances Conroy), and brother Dennis (David Hyde Pierce). Walter is allergic to almost everything. They can't have a wedding out in the open, as he is allergic to bees, no strawberries, or even grass. Annie does not believe in destiny or fate, even though she met Walter when they ordered the same sandwich at the deli, and he got her brown bread (to which he is allergic) and she gets her his white bread.Annie works at a news paper and learns from her editor the next day that the Chicago switchboard was tied up 2 hours the previous night after the Jonah call to Network America. Annie says that she heard the interview and Becky tells her to write a piece on it. Meanwhile Walter has some business travel coming up and tells Annie to meet him in New York for a Valentine's Day dinner. Annie cannot get Sam out of her head and cries every time she thinks about his interview. She misses that spark and emotional connection with Walter. After watching the film An Affair to Remember, Annie impulsively writes a letter suggesting that Sam meet her on top of the Empire State Building on Valentine's Day. She does not intend to mail it, but her friend and editor Becky (Rosie O'Donnell) does it for her and agrees to send Annie to Seattle to "look into doing a story on those radio shows."Sam begins dating a coworker, Victoria (Barbara Garrick), whom Jonah dislikes. Jonah, a baseball fan, reads Annie's letter and likes that it mentions the Baltimore Orioles but fails to convince his father to go to New York to meet Annie. On the advice of his friend Jessica (Gaby Hoffmann), Jonah replies to Annie agreeing to the New York meeting.While dropping Victoria off at the airport for a flight, Sam sees Annie exiting from her plane and is taken by her, although he has no idea who she is. Annie watches Sam and Jonah playing on the beach together but mistakes Sam's sister Suzy (Rita Wilson) for his girlfriend. He recognizes her from the airport and says "Hello", but Annie can only respond with another "hello" before fleeing. She decides she is being foolish and goes to New York to meet Walter for Valentine's Day.With Jessica's help, Jonah flies to New York without his father's permission, and goes to the Empire State Building in search of Annie. Jonah goes to observation deck and asks every unattached woman if she is Annie. Sam, distraught, follows Jonah and finds him on the observation deck. Meanwhile, Annie has seen the skyscraper from the Rainbow Room where she is dining with Walter and confesses her doubts to him. They amicably end their engagement. She rushes to the Empire State Building, but the observation deck has closed. Annie convinces the guard to allow her to go to observation deck (An Affair to Remember is the guard's wife's favorite movie) and arrives just moments after the doors to the down elevator close with Sam and Jonah inside.In spite of the observation deck being deserted, Annie convinces the elevator operator to let her take a quick look around. She discovers a backpack that Jonah has left behind. As she pulls out Jonah's teddy bear from the backpack, Sam and Jonah emerge from the elevator, and the three meet for the first time. Annie asks Jonah if the teddy bear is his, and he says it is. "Are you Annie?" Jonah asks. She nods yes, and Jonah smiles. "You're Annie," says a stunned Sam. The elevator operator clears his throat. Sam indicates they should go, momentarily making it unclear what his intentions are, until he says, "Shall we?", offers his hand to Annie, and the three go down the elevator together.

Storyline

After his wife Maggie passes away, Sam Baldwin and his 8-year-old son Jonah relocate from Chicago to Seattle to escape the grief associated with Maggie's death. Eighteen months later Sam is still grieving and can't sleep. Although Jonah misses his mother, he wants his father to get a new wife despite Sam having not even contemplated dating again. On Christmas Eve, Sam (on Jonah's initiative) ends up pouring his heart out on a national radio talk show about his magical and perfect marriage to Maggie, and how much he still misses her. Among the many women who hear Sam's story and fall in love with him solely because of it is Annie Reed, a Baltimore-based newspaper writer. Annie's infatuation with Sam's story and by association Sam himself is despite being already engaged. But Annie's relationship with her straight-laced fiancé Walter is unlike her dream love life in the movie An Affair to Remember (1957) . She even writes to Sam proposing they meet atop the Empire State Building on Valentine's Day. Back in Seattle, Sam has received hundreds of letters from women wanting to meet him. Jonah is excited by one letter in particular from Baltimore and will do whatever he needs to to get his father and Annie together. However, old fashioned Sam wants his future love life to be based on meeting a woman the traditional way and he, in turn, becomes infatuated with an unknown woman he spots a few times in Seattle. Will magic happen twice in Sam's life, and if so will it be with this unknown woman or Annie? — Huggo Aching to experience a great romance in the likes of her new favourite film, An Affair to Remember (1957) , the Baltimore Sun reporter, Annie Reed, keeps telling to herself that her relationship and the imminent marriage to her frail fiancé, Walter, is the best thing that could happen to her. On the other side of the country, in Seattle--tired of seeing his father still reeling from the untimely loss of his wife--the precocious eight-year-old son of the widowed parent, Sam Baldwin, takes matters into his own hands, and calls a late-night radio talk-show, concerned about his insomniac and still single dad. Now--among thousands of ecstatic and protective women across America--Annie feels an insuppressible need to meet in person the pained stranger with the lovely voice, starting to question her feelings for Walter. Are the Sleepless in Seattle and the Uncertain from Baltimore meant to be together? — Nick Riganas Sam Baldwin has not gotten over the death of his wife. His son, Jonah, in an effort to help his father move on phones a radio station and mentions that his dad needs a new wife. Sam then pours his heart out on national radio. At the other end of the US a young woman, Annie Reed, hears this and feels a distinct attraction to Sam to the point that she is determined to track him down and meet him. — grantss Sam is a recent widower who is seeking someone new. Sam's son Jonah, is also looking for a new mother, so when Jonah puts his father on national radio, hundreds of women write to him. One of the women is Annie. She's engaged to Walter, but he's a bit strange. Annie goes to great lengths to meet Sam. — Rob Hartill 2 more All