Why “While You Were Sleeping” Is an Underrated Christmas Classic
By: Richard Lebeau
Tags: Entertainment, Holidays, Christmas, Movies, Culture

Why While You Were Sleeping Is an Underrated Classic

Most people don’t think of While You Were Sleeping as a Christmas movie for some bizarre reason. Perhaps it was the April release date. The opening credits, set to Natalie Cole’s magnificent “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)”, showcases a Christmas-decorated Chicago and the opening scene involve Sandra Bullock lugging a Christmas tree into her apartment. The entire film takes place over the next two weeks or so, with a belated Christmas celebration and New Year’s Eve serving as major plot points.

The second issue preventing it from bona fide classic status is that the plot is a hard sell. Lucy Moderatz (Bullock) is a lonely toll-booth worker on the Chicago “L” train who lost her mother when she was an infant and dropped out of college to care for her ill father, who recently passed away. She daydreams about a romance with dashing businessman Peter Callaghan (Peter Gallagher) who hops on the train at her station every weekday. While being forced to work Christmas day against her will (since she’s the only one without family counting on her), she sees Peter mugged and thrown onto the train tracks. She rescues him and accompanies him to the hospital. A wild series of mix-ups results in her being mistaken for Peter’s fiancee and things spin wildly out of control with his intrusive family. Not only does it sound utterly preposterous, but few people think about muggings, comas, and deception as being the hallmarks of a heartwarming Christmas tale.

This leads us to the third and most prominent issue, which reflects the only actual criticism I have of the film. Despite its many strengths (which I will delve into in a minute), the screenplay by Daniel G. Sullivan and Frederic Lebow requires viewers to suspend disbelief a bit too much and endure a few too many misunderstandings. Although a valid criticism, can you name a single Christmas movie that doesn’t require a suspension of disbelief or rely on plot contrivances? I think not. Nevertheless, the screenplay does veer a bit too close to “idiot plot” territory. (In literary criticism, an “idiot plot” refers to “a narrative where its conflict comes from characters not recognizing, or not being told, key information that would resolve the conflict, often because of plot contrivance.”)

But once you look past its “idiot plot,” the screenplay actually is remarkably nuanced. Virtually every major character is given depth and character development, and all of their motivations are crystal clear and believable. Lucy has no interest in deceiving the Callaghans, but a deep longing for connection (likely fueled by spending her first Christmas alone) and a fear of breaking their hearts leads her to do things she wouldn’t normally do. The family’s willingness to believe the mix-up is fueled by their estrangement from their son and their desire to reconnect with him. Peter’s brother Jack (Bill Pullman), who becomes Lucy’s love interest, is driven by his conflicting emotions about his family (he loves them deeply but wants to leave the family business and is jealous of his brother’s success) and his deepening love for Lucy.

Image copyright: Buena Vista Pictures/Hollywood Pictures/Disney

The performances are remarkably heartfelt. Glynis Johns, most famous for her role as Mrs. Banks in Mary Poppins, is an absolute hoot as the vaguely senile grandmother. (Fun fact, she’s still alive at age 97!) As Peter and Jack’s parents, the late Peter Boyle (Young Frankenstein, Everybody Loves Raymond) and veteran character actress Micole Mercurio (whose credits include Flashdance, The Client, Hill Street Blues, and LA Law) are the perfect balance of quirky and charming. As Peter’s godfather who quickly figures out Lucy’s secret and conspires with her to keep it from the family, two-time Oscar nominee and Emmy winner Jack Warden is the comic highlight. As Peter (spoiler alert — he survives!), Gallagher is delightfully flustered as a narcissist who wakes up to find his world in disarray. Pullman proves a charming romantic lead (in many ways, the opposite of his character in Sleepless in Seattle) and effectively goes toe-to-toe with Bullock.

As good as the ensemble is, what makes this film work is the absolutely luminous, award-worthy performance from Sandra Bullock. She oozes longing and heartbreak with each stare out of the toll-booth window. Her heartbreaking confessionals, first with Peter in the coma, then with Saul, and eventually with everyone, are perfectly pitched. She shows restraint and radiance at every turn and gives a performance of astonishing emotional vulnerability and authenticity.

The film is skillfully directed by Jon Turteltaub (whose credits include Cool Runnings and National Treasure) and produced by industry heavyweights Roger Birnbaum and Joe Roth. Thanks to film editor Bruce Green, the film flows seamlessly and is superbly paced. It also has a restrained and whimsical score by Randy Edelman that is utterly sublime.

Is While You Were Sleeping one of the great movies of the 1990s? No. Is it in the upper echelon of greatest romances ever made? Also no. But is it an eminently watchable, utterly charming, and highly underrated film that is better than it should be in nearly every regard? Absolutely.