Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

Cast:

Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Ross Malinger, Bill Pullman, Rosie O’Donnell, Rob Reiner, Rita Wilson.

Synopsis:

A gentle Norah Ephron romcom. Eight-year-old Jonah (Malinger), worried about his grieving dad, rings a radio call-in show to find him a new wife. Meg Ryan, listening from the other side of the country, falls for Tom Hanks, thus proving that love transcends silly things like actually having met the other person.

Okay, so it shamelessly plagiarises An Affair To Remember. Meg Ryan is quite the stalker. And Tom Hanks doesn’t actually break up with that other woman he’s going out with. But it’s all good, clean fun.

David's role:

Blink and you’ll miss it! David plays Dennis Reed, Meg Ryan’s older brother. We don’t learn a whole lot about him, other than that he’s a professor at Johns Hopkins University and is married to someone called Betsy. But none of that really matters because he’s just so darn young and handsome in this one! There’s also some nice, albeit inadvertent Frasier foreshadowing with Dennis’s comment about how much it rains in Seattle.

What the critics said:

“Superbly acted, beautifully photographed, and resolutely warm and fuzzy, Sleepless in Seattle is a romantic treat.”

– TV Guide

“Not since Love Story has there been a movie that so shrewdly and predictably manipulated the emotions for such entertaining effect.”

- Vincent Canby, The New York Times

There’s not much about David in any reviews. Oh alright, there’s nothing. But we bet the critics are kicking themselves now for not proclaiming “Ah yes! That young David Hyde Pierce shall go on to great things! I predict it!”

Best bits:

Dennis standing up at the dinner table to propose a toast to Meg Ryan on her impending nuptials to Bill Pullman, who she clearly isn’t going to end up marrying.

Dennis furrowing his brow and playing absentmindedly with his baton as Meg Ryan rambles on endlessly during the office scene.

Dennis’s definition of attraction. “Two neuroses knowing that they are a perfect match.” Classic Niles-ism!

Dennis’s hair. It really is very nice.

Best lines:

ANNIE: Why did you get married? Was it all trumpets and fireworks?
DENNIS: I got married because Betsy said we had to break up or get married ... so we got married.

"Annie, when you're attracted to someone, it just means that your subconscious is attracted to their subconscious, subconsciously. So what we think of as fate is just two neuroses knowing that they are a perfect match."

DVD extras:

Pretty standard fare. We get the original theatrical trailer as well as a 'behind the scenes' featurette, which is basically just an extended version of the trailer. Both feature David’s “It rains nine months of the year in Seattle!" line though, so we won’t complain.

Also included are talent profiles of all the big stars, sans David, who was still a year away from his Frasier debut at the time. We’re also treated to a director’s commentary by Nora Ephron which is good, except she spends David’s big scene talking about the significance of the door to Dennis’s office. Bah!