While You Were Sleeping (1995)
She saved his life, got mistaken for his fiancée, and fell for his brother.
Token collector Lucy pulls Peter off the tracks at Christmas; at the hospital, a misunderstanding makes his warm, chaotic family believe she's engaged to him — and nobody has the heart to correct it while she falls for his brother Jack. Sandra Bullock's breakout proves the rom-com rule: the family is the love story.
Sandra Bullock cemented her stardom the year after Speed by doing the opposite of action: standing at a Chicago token booth, quietly lonely at Christmas, talking to a man in a coma whose family adopts her on sight. Bill Pullman's Jack is the rare romantic lead whose decency is the attraction. The screenplay was written as a gender-flipped premise and rebuilt around Bullock's warmth, and the film's real love story is Lucy and the Callaghans — a woman with no family being absorbed by one that simply assumes she's theirs.
From the Film
The Facts
- Year
- 1995
- Director
- Jon Turteltaub
- Runtime
- 103 minutes
- Genres
- Comedy, Romance
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Sandra Bullock | Lucy Moderatz |
| Bill Pullman | Jack Callaghan |
| Peter Gallagher | Peter Callaghan |
| Peter Boyle | Ox Callaghan |
| Jack Warden | Saul |
| Glynis Johns | Elsie Callaghan |
Good to know: A critical and commercial success grossing over $182 million worldwide, it earned Sandra Bullock a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical.
Where to watch While You Were Sleeping
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