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While You Were Sleeping poster

While You Were Sleeping

year 1995decade 90sdirector Jon Turteltaubgenre Romantic comedy

103 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Sandra Bullock Lucy Eleanor Moderatz
Bill Pullman Jack Callaghan
Peter Gallagher Peter Callaghan
Peter Boyle Ox Callaghan
Glynis Johns Elsie
Micole Mercurio Midge Callaghan
Jack Warden Saul Tuttle
Jason Bernard Jerry Wallace
Michael Rispoli Joe Fusco Jr.
Ally Walker Ashley Bartlett Bacon
Monica Keena Mary Callaghan

While You Were Sleeping | The Rewatchables

host Juliet Litmanhost Amanda Dobbins format 25th anniversary
Explore episodeClose episode

Producer credits not yet identified.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Wedding-day confession to the family

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:24:51Read transcript
  • Lucy's early bedside speech to the comatose Peter, about loneliness, is called extremely moving and the center of a movie about loneliness, grief and family; Saul looking over her adds to it.
  • Jack and Lucy slipping on the ice as he walks her home after delivering the love seat is a favorite, recalling Cameron Diaz's physical comedy in The Holiday and showing their palpable chemistry.
  • While You Were Sleeping, The Holiday and Sleepless in Seattle are noted as available on Showtime.
  • The ice scene is the moment the romance becomes clear, though visible non-iced sidewalks sit on either side; the hosts say Chicago had an unseasonably warm fall during the shoot, so the cold was faked.
  • The one-testicle scene, where Lucy volunteers that Peter lost a testicle in a freak basketball accident with a pencil and the family jokes about who will check, is praised as good writing.
  • The hosts say the writers wrote 20 scripts together and this was the only one ever made.
  • The wedding that isn't, where Lucy objects at her own wedding, is a favorite rom-com wedding scene; one host calls the ill-fitting sailor-collar dress one of the worst movie wedding dresses, while the other likes it.
  • The confession to the whole family pairs with the coma speech and is compared to Tom Hanks's final scene in You've Got Mail: a character confessing unforgivable things done for love, which only great actors can sell.
  • The family ensemble is underrated; having everyone in the room makes it the best-scripted scene, and the real fiancee storming in makes it the most rewatchable too.
  • Saul, played by Jack Warden, telling Peter in the hospital not to be an asshole is another sweet option.
  • The wedding scene ultimately takes the cake; a host adds that Peter Gallagher is just lying there in a coma through it.

What’s Aged the Best?

Casting; fashion; furniture-making boyfriend

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:34:09Read transcript
  • The cast of Sandra Bullock, Peter Gallagher and Bill Pullman goes three for three; all three have to relate to one another, and all went on to successful careers.
  • The casting is strong enough that the film does not miss a best friend; Lucy only has coworkers, making hers one of the sadder rom-com heroine backstories.
  • Her clothes nail an Eileen Fisher aesthetic; the sweaters, jeans and boots feel current, though the muddy long belted skirts at the family house are an exception.
  • Her deep red velvet New Year's Eve outfit echoes Meg Ryan's Christmas Eve outfit in Sleepless in Seattle, and the coat is back in style.
  • The handcrafting furniture maker played by Bill Pullman is an artsy boyfriend ahead of its time, a forerunner of Aiden in Sex and the City, and his furniture has aged better than Aiden's.
  • Walk-up apartments sucked in 1995 and still do.
  • The simple engagement ring is loved and likened to the ring Aiden gives Carrie; it also has to fit under the token slot.
  • The film is aspirational but not out of touch with how normal people live.
  • Jack's reversible jean jacket is loved; the hosts cite Ashley Spencer's Washington Post oral history, in which Bill Pullman is quoted as still having and wearing it.
  • The ranking settles on casting first, fashion second and the furniture boyfriend third.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Lack of checking up on who Lucy is; Lucy's self-deprecating body lines; Joe Jr.

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:41:29Read transcript
  • No one looks anything up in the yellow pages or fact-checks anything; today someone would check Instagram, and the obvious move of going to her workplace comes only at the end.
  • Citing the oral history and a Peter Gallagher interview with Vulture, the hosts say the script changed on set for the worse; two throwaway lines about Lucy's body (a flat chest, and fitting into her pants) are out of sync with the rest of her portrayal.
  • Joe Jr. is an unneeded, distracting C plot filling the best-friend comedy slot and is a little scene-chewy; more time with the family would have been better.
  • Ultimately the lack of checking up on who she is has aged the absolute worst.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:52:59Read transcript
  • Monica Kina (as transcribed), who plays Peter and Jack's much younger sister, is one pick because she later turns up as a menacing character on Dawson's Creek.
  • Peter Boyle is a top option for their age group, known more for TV work.
  • Jack Warden is nominated after being seen in about four movies in one week of rewatching; his credits are listed as All the President's Men, Shampoo as his signature role, Being There and The Verdict.
  • The hosts say Warden suffered a Korean War injury that left him in pain when walking, which they believe Peter Gallagher recounted in Vulture.
  • The mother from Mary Poppins has the most defining look; the hosts debate whether the award is for someone known as someone else or someone in many movies, leaning to the latter.
  • The award goes to Jack Warden, who is more than a that-guy but still prompts an oh-my-God reaction here.

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:04:56Read transcript
  • Wanda the nurse is nominated for doing the most with the least screen time, including her "don't wonder out loud" line.
  • Peter Gallagher, in a coma for half the movie, wakes up to what the hosts call an improvised Jell-O line and conveys yuppiness, untrustworthiness and handsomeness from a hospital bed.
  • The nurse's backer concedes and the award goes to Peter Gallagher.

Apex Mountain

No affirmative selection

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:06:15Read transcript
  • Peter Gallagher's apex is Sandy Cohen.
  • Sandra Bullock's apex is winning the Oscar for The Blind Side, which set up Gravity.
  • A case exists for Bill Pullman because he finally gets the girl, but his apex is the megaphone speech in Independence Day the following year.
  • It is a great movie but no one's apex; Bullock's breakthrough needed the one-two punch of Speed and this film.