On Screen: While You Were Sleeping

Here’s a question for you – is it considered fake dating if one of the people in the relationship is in a coma and doesn’t even know who the other person is?

One of my all time favorite rom coms is While You Were Sleeping, but I don’t think it gets nearly enough love as it should. Everyone knows When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle (as they should) but While You Were Sleeping needs more attention. It’s hilarious, it’s heartwarming, it’s a million times more bonkers than I initially realized (I’ll get to that). *Please know there may be spoilers so you have been warned.

I’m starting this with telling you about who I watched this with because it is actually kind of important. I have a Slack group of Romance writers that have become a very important part of my support system. We talk about books and writing, we support each other and cheer each other on. We have Taylor Swift music video viewing parties. And recently we began having movie night.

So we decided to watch While You Were Sleeping because we all love it.

Here is the set up in case you haven’t seen it or don’t remember – Lucy (Sandra Bullock) is a token taker for the train in Chicago. She has no family and lives alone with her cat. Every day, she sees the handsome, kind stranger (Peter Gallagher) who she is madly in love with but doesn’t even know his name. On Christmas Day, Lucy sees handsome man pushed onto the train tracks, so she runs out, jumps onto the tracks and saves him from being run over by the train.

At the hospital where he is in a coma, she isn’t allowed to see him because she isn’t family, but a nurse misunderstands and things she is his fiancee. So his entire family believes that she is a mysterious fiancee and become instantly attached. Grandma has a heart condition, and Lucy is afraid of breaking their hearts further. (And let me tell you, this family is bananas). Plus, Lucy is so lonely, this family is exactly what she’s longed for.

She’s invited to the family’s belated Christmas where she meets Jack (Bill Pullman), Peter’s brother. So many antics ensue like Lucy going to feed Peter’s cat, who actually isn’t Peter’s cat but his married girlfriend’s cat and Jack follows her there and Lucy bashed his head with a door. And one of my favorite scenes is when Lucy and Jack give blood and Jack passes out after. And of course when everyone things Lucy is pregnant. So then there’s a love triangle with Jack and Peter, who finally wakes from his coma.

This movie is hilarious. Sandra Bullock is absolutely perfect in this role. She’s adorable and wears these oversized sweaters. She has this boss she goes to for horrible advice. Bill Pullman is so handsome and a fantastic love interest. Lucy and Jack have so much chemistry. And Peter Gallagher is extremely handsome too in his coma state (and I read he actually slept through a lot of the filming). The landlord of Lucy’s building has this son Joe Jr. who is an absolute scream. I love him. He likes to try on Lucy’s shoes.

But also, it’s totally bonkers, as we slowly realized as we watched and discussed the movie. Jack and Peter’s family is hilarious but also kind of insane. They are markably upbeat considering someone is in the hospital in a coma. They also encourage Lucy and Jack to kiss under the mistletoe even though she’s engaged to the other brother. And when Peter doesn’t remember Lucy, they decide it’s amnesia even though he can remember EVERYTHING else. Also the hospital wedding is so bizarre – Peter is getting married in pajamas and a suit jacket. And I’d like to quote my friend Claudia for the best comment about the wedding, “Ah, every woman wants her groom staring at her with his dead eyes.” I’m still laughing about that.

Another thing to love about it besides the somewhat unhinged nature is the fact that it both is and is not a Christmas movie. It is set around Christmas / right after but it isn’t really overly holiday feeling. So it works both ways. Kind of the same way I feel about Die Hard, even though I have never actually seen Die Hard (but it is one of my husband’s favorite movies. I don’t refuse to watch it, I just go to sleep 20 seconds after he turns it on).

So anyway, you should watch While You Were Sleeping. It’s streaming on Disney+ so if you have that, you have no excuse.