While You Were Sleeping

Directed by Jon Turteltaub, While You Were Sleeping follows mousy transit employee Lucy Moderatz (Sandra Bullock) as she saves the life of a handsome crush (Peter Gallagher’s Peter) and subsequently finds herself mistaken for the man’s heretofore unknown fiancée – with the arrival of Peter’s skeptical brother (Bill Pullman’s Jack) eventually forcing Lucy to choose between the two men. It’s a fairly ludicrous premise that’s employed as a springboard for an increasingly compelling and charming romantic comedy, as filmmaker Turteltaub, armed with Daniel G. Sullivan and Fredric Lebow’s screenplay, delivers an agreeable piece of work that benefits substantially from the almost unreasonably personable efforts of its various performers – with Bullock’s completely winning turn as the affable protagonist matched by an impressive roster of such scene-stealing periphery players as Peter Boyle, Glynis Johns, and Jack Warden. (And it doesn’t hurt, either, that Bullock and Pullman’s chemistry together is nothing short of electric, generally speaking.) There’s little doubt, as well, that While You Were Sleeping‘s above-average atmosphere is perpetuated by its raft of better-than-expect attributes and elements, including Phedon Papamichael’s unusually cinematic visuals and an undercurrent of laugh-out-loud funny bits and gags, and it’s clear, too, that the movie’s satisfying third act doesn’t, for the most part, fall prey to the various genre conventions one might’ve anticipated (and dreaded) – which ultimately does cement the picture’s place as one of the very best romcoms to emerge from the 1990s.

***1/2 out of ****