'Sleeping' Won't While Away Your Saturday Night

While You Were Sleeping

Starring Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, and Peter Gallagher

Directed by Jon Turtletaub

Hollywood Pictures at Sony Fresh Pond

'While You Were Sleeping" will probably be your friend's response when you ask when the good parts in this movie happened.

Lucy (Sandra Bullock) is a lonely, orphaned, Chicago Transit Authority worker who becomes infatuated with Peter Callaghan (Peter Gallagher); a commuter she has never spoken to. On Christmas Day, Lucy rescues Peter after he falls unconscious onto the tracks of an approaching train. Due to an incredulous plot twist, Lucy is mistaken for Peter's fiancée at the hospital.

While Peter is comatose, Lucy is warmly accepted by Peter's family. She is unwilling to tell the truth concerning her non-existent engagement, and promptly falls for Peter's conveniently conscious, cute and single brother, Jack. (Bill Pullman). When Peter eventually wakes up, he is amnesiatic, convinced that Lucy really is his fiancée. Soon enough Peter's real fiancée shows up and the ensuing hijinx are anything but hilarious.

"While You Were Sleeping" attempts to be a romantic comedy with farsical plot twists. Most probably, only your stomach will twist with each painful attempt to craft a cute, witty, clever and plausible plot. In fact, so much of the film revolves around overheard and misconstrued conversations that you'll think you just bought an eight dollar ticket to see "Three's Company: The Movie."

Sometimes, talented actors can redeem a poorly conceived movie from complete failure--no such luck this time. The characters prove so stereotypical and shallow that even earnest attempts from usually likable actors like Bullock and Pullman fall flat.

Bullock's character, Lucy, is the typical diamond-in-the-rough who has no family or social life, and yet is delightfully sweet and beautiful. Peter is the handsome lawyer who appears to be Mr. Right, but turns out to be petty and callous. Jack is the sensitive, tough guy who really wants to be an artist and turns out to be Lucy's peasant-savior.

The film's humor is as stale as the characterization. There's a bit about tickets to the Ice Capades. That's funny, you see, because nobody likes the Ice Capades. Then there's the Callaghan family business: estate furniture--which spawns the movie's funniest quip: "We're in the estate furniture business. We buy furniture from dead people."

The soundtrack throughout the film is comically melodramatic. Extravagant orchestrations played at ridiculous volumes signal every scene shift seconds before it actually happens. Inevitably, when the orchestra begins to from a joyful, blaring, Christmas song to a slow, drippy, sentimental ballad, it's time for someone to get really mushy.

Nothing seems to go right for this movie. The most talented actor, Peter Gallagher, languishes in a coma almost for the duration of the film. The most affecting moment--when Jack proposes marriage to Lucy by dropping a diamond ring into her dish of tokens--comes after such inanity that most of the audience has already tuned out.

"While You Were Sleeping" is the latest attempt at an appealing 'Date Movie.' Hollywood's perfect 'Date' is mushy and sweet, candy for the mind and heart. Most moviegoers will find that they need a more substantial snack than "While You Were Sleeping" for their Saturday night. If you think you might be in the mood for something nutritious, steer clear of this lollipop.