While You Were Sleeping (film)

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.

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

Fare token collector Lucy Eleanor Moderatz works for the Chicago Transit Authority, stationed at the Randolph/Wabash station. She secretly loves commuter Peter Callaghan, though they are strangers.

On Christmas Day, Lucy rescues Peter from the Chicago "L" train after muggers push him onto the tracks. She accompanies the comatose Peter to the hospital, where a nurse overhears her mumbling, "I was going to marry him." Misinterpreting, she tells everyone that Lucy is his fiancée.

As the family has not heard from Peter in a while, the engagement is a surprise. Lucy becomes too caught up in the crisis to explain the truth. She remains silent due to: embarrassment; the heart condition of Peter's grandmother Elsie; and loneliness.

While visiting Peter, Lucy confesses her predicament to him, unaware that his godfather Saul overhears her. He confronts her, she confesses that she is alone, her mother died when she was very young and her dad recently passed. He keeps her secret, as the accident has brought the family closer and he knows that Lucy is not being malicious.

So captivated with the quirky Callaghans and their unconditional love, Lucy cannot hurt them by revealing that Peter is a stranger. 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 and Lucy start spending time together. 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.

Meanwhile, Peter's actual girlfriend Ashley, accepts his proposal on his answering machine. She leaves follow-up messages about his non-responsiveness, saying that 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 they that assume he has amnesia. Lucy attempts to tell the Callaghans the truth, but they assume that she is saying that she is not really pregnant and brush it off. Saul intercepts Lucy, saying that he will explain the news to them.

When Jack drives Lucy home, she thanks him for his kindness and friendship. He finally tells his father that he would rather make furniture than take over the business. He understands.

Saul tells Peter that he is a putz for how he treats women and that Lucy is special. Lucy and Peter begin spending time together. Meanwhile, Ashley discovers from Peter's doorman that he is now engaged and in the hospital. Ashley confronts Peter, saying that they are engaged, but he reminds her that they broke up after she rejected his proposal. He declares that he is a changed man and is marrying Lucy now.

Lucy discovers that Saul never told the Callaghans anything and returns to the hospital to tell Peter herself. He mentions how much he cares for her, proposes "again" and she accepts, despite now being in love with Jack. When Jack visits Lucy the day before the wedding, she asks if he can give her a reason not to marry Peter. He disappoints her, saying that he cannot.

On the day of the wedding, just as the ceremony begins, Lucy blurts out, "I object," and Jack agrees. She finally confesses everything, telling the family that she not only fell in love with all of them, but that she loves Jack. Then, Ashley arrives and demands that the wedding be stopped. Ashley's husband also arrives, objecting. As everyone argues, Lucy slips out unnoticed.

Later, while Lucy is at work, Jack places an engagement ring in her booth's token tray. He proposes to her in the booth, with most of the Callaghans watching. Jack and Lucy marry and then take a CTA train for their honeymoon.

He fulfills her dream of going to Florence, Italy. Peter asks when she fell in love with Jack, and she replies, "It was while you were sleeping."

Cast

• 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

Both Demi Moore and Julia Roberts were offered the role of Lucy Moderatz but turned it down.

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.

Though the original screenplay was entitled “Coma Guy”, the title was changed shortly after the script was acquired by Caravan Pictures. 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. Filming took place from October 8 to December 14, 1994.

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.

Reception

Box office

The 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, beating Bad Boys. It was the thirteenth-highest grosser of 1995 in the United States.

Critical response

On 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." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on reviews from 20 critics. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A on scale of A to F.

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."

Accolades

Bullock was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. The film was recognized by the American Film Institute in 2002 with a nomination for the list AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions.

External links

• Janet Maslin. "The Blossoming of a Wallflower". The New York Times. April 21, 1995. C16.
• at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidataTemplate:WikidataCheck
• Script-O-Rama: While You Were Sleeping transcript