December 31 - While You Were Sleeping

Today’s movie is a romantic comedy with a scene that happens on December 31. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING              

Lucy Moderatz is a young woman who works as a ticket taker for the Chicago Transit Authority, and gradually develops a crush on an attractive guy who passes through her ticket booth everyday.  The guy comes through her boothand while standing on the platform two punks try to mug him. He falls onto the tracks and is knocked out. Lucy keeps him from being run over by the train. At the hospital a nurse mistakenly thinks Lucy is the fiancée of the unconscious man.  When his family arrives, they like Lucy, so she decides not to tell them that she is not Peter’s fincee, as she thinks this might cause his grandmother to have a heart attack.  Lucy goes to the delayed Christmas celebrations with the family of Peter Callaghan. Peter’s brother Jack goes to Lucy’s apartment house. The obnoxious son of the owner lies and tells Jack that he is dating Lucy. Lucy, who learns Peter has a cat goes to his apartment to feed it and runs into Jack. Jack is suspicious of her relationship with Peter, but when Lucy tells them that Peter only has one testicle, a fact that she accidentally learned from a co-worker of Peter, they naturally believe her. Saul, Peter’s godfather who has learned the truth tells her not to tell the family yet. Lucy goes with Jack to deliver a sofa to Peter’s apartment and learns Jack no longer wants to work with his father in the estate furniture business, but wants to make furniture.  Lucy and Jack are attracted to each other, but don’t want to acknowledge it. Lucy has to fight off the unwanted attentions of the landlord’s son and Peter’s family gets the mistaken idea Lucy is pregnant. On December 31, 1994 [59:36 to 1:06:46] Jack follows Lucy to a New Year’s Eve party. Then Peter wakes up, but when he doesn’t know Lucy, they think he has amnesia. Jack finally tells his father how he fells about the business. Saul persuades Peter to propose to Lucy. Then Ashley shows up. Peter had proposed to her, but she said no and moved to Portugal. Peter rejects Ashley and proposes to Lucy who accepts. Jack visits Lucy, but when she asks if he can give her any reason why she should not marry Peter, he says he can’t. Just as the wedding is about to begin, Lucy stops it. She confesses all and says she loves Jack. Ashley arrives and objects to the wedding, while Lucy sneaks out. Later Jack slides an engagement ring into her token tray. He comes into her booth and with the entire Callaghan family watching he proposes. They get married and honeymoon in Florence, her favorite city.

A wonderful romantic comedy. Just quirky enough to get out of the usual track of such films. Jack Warden and Glynis Johns steal the show with their performances.    

Sign at 1:02:31 says “Happy New Year” 

Screenplay - Daniel G. Sullivan and Fredric LeBow              

Producers - Roger Birnbaum and Joe Roth               

Director - Jon Turteltaub      

                                   

Runtime – 1 hour 43 minutes                                   

Released - April 21, 1995                                          

Starring -

                                                                                    

Glynis Johns as Elsie   

Peter Gallagher as Peter Callaghan                                                                                                            

Bill Pullman as Jack Callaghan

Micole Mercurio as Midge Callaghan

Peter Boyle as Ox Callaghan

Monica Keena as Mary Callaghan

Sandra Bullock as Lucy Moderatz

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2014.