Sleepless in Seattle is odd because there is no meet cute until the final scene. Somehow, Norah Ephron has created a world where it makes sense that two strangers are separated by 3,000 miles and still manage to fall in love.

| Jul 25, 2023

Sleepless in Seattle fully embraces romantic melodrama and Ephron cleverly exploits the insane chemistry that Hanks and Ryan share. Its greatness is undisputed and the list just wouldn’t be complete without it.

| Feb 1, 2023

Sleepless in Seattle succeeds as a glorious three-way romantic comedy between men, women and children. It's a valiant valentine to the post-nuclear family.

| Aug 4, 2021

Despite a madcap, slapstick type of comic conclusion, with no real hope of marital longevity, the film is terribly romantic.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Sep 24, 2020

Sleepless in Seattle finds a way to put a fresh seasoning on top of the genre.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 9, 2020

What are we teaching the other little sons of America, when they see so few movies as humane and woman-positive as Sleepless in Seattle, and so very many that portray women as evil incarnate?

| Aug 14, 2019

The emotional weight of the drama rests on Hanks, and you appreciate how skilfully Ephron structures the film so that the two principals are bound by song and sentiment rather than physical proximity.

| Jan 25, 2019

But the movie's problems go deeper-than the dialogue: its whole premise is flawed.

| Jan 25, 2019

Sleepless In Seattle balances romance and realism by giving its central characters two different but equally pragmatic philosophies on love.

| Jan 25, 2019

The rest of this romantic comedy about the strange power that pulls a man and woman together... only reinforces the notion that Ephron is a filmmaker whose time has come at last, after years as a novelist, screenwriter and feminist wit.

| Jan 25, 2019

"Sleepless in Seattle" (citywide), a real charmer, is a romantic comedy about an ultimate long-distance relationship. Emphasize "romantic." Emphasize "comedy." It delivers both.

| Jan 25, 2019

For nearly two hours, Ephron keeps her marvellous stars apart, a potentially dangerous tactic that works superbly.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 24, 2019

Substantially better, funnier, smarter, and more impeccably-controlled than almost everything that came in its wake.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 16, 2018

While I have returned to watch my favourite moments play out again and again, I am always rewarded by the subtlety and beauty in the scenes I don't remember.

| Jun 27, 2018

...a decent drama that never entirely lives up to its place as a classic romcom...

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 28, 2018

Self-consciousness infects Nora Ephron's sweet but perilously thin love story, Sleepless in Seattle...such are the perils of these postmodernist times: even our love stories feed off borrowed emotion.

| Mar 20, 2018

A movie to which director and co-writer Nora Ephron brought her terrific flair, wit and nous, although she propagates the terrifying fallacy that a widower makes a wonderful romantic catch.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 13, 2014

Don't get me wrong: I have no objection to shamelessly corny love stories that make you well up with tearful joy. I just don't like it when the movie does the welling up for you.

| Original Score: C | Sep 7, 2011

A fairy tale that even teens can enjoy.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 1, 2011

A romantic treat.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 2, 2009