| Overall Grade: | A- |
|---|---|
| Violence: | A- |
| Sexual Content: | A- |
| Language: | B+ |
| Drugs/Alcohol: | -- |
| MPAA Rating: | |
| Video Release: |
In-Depth Review
ShareWhile You Were Sleeping is rated PG:
There's nothing like a good love story, and I mean that literally. There usually is nothing like a good love story to be found on the shelves of your local video store. However, if you are tiring of unbelievable coincidences, characters with no intelligence, and a script as predictable as a train schedule, there's relief in sight. While You Were Sleeping is a beautifully crafted love story with just a few bad words and practically no mention of sex.
Sandra Bullock plays Lucy, a shy little waif working in a Chicago subway toll-booth. The closest relative she has is her cat, and her social life consists of a compulsive attraction for Peter, a handsome man who rushes past her booth each day. Wanting any excuse to meet him, she is finally rewarded in the strangest way when two thugs rob Peter on Christmas Day and push him onto the tracks. Lucy takes the opportunity to save his life, and that's where the story begins.
While Peter lies in bed with a coma, Lucy finds herself caught in the middle of family and nurses at the hospital. Through a series of almost believable misunderstandings, everyone is soon convinced that Lucy is Peter's fiancee. One thing leads to the next, until Lucy meets Jack, Peter's brother. Now things get even crazier, as she finds herself falling in love with Peter, yet still not sure about her feelings for Jack.
This movie is too good to give the end away. Two concerns you may have for younger family members is a detailed discussion of a private part of Peter's anatomy that was lost during a basketball game and the moment when Peter's real fiancee shows up. The latter makes for a tense situation and a few words of profanity are expressed.
Otherwise, While You Were Sleeping is a wonderful film that would warm the heart of even those that find romances boring. So, gather up the romantic diehards in your family, make a big bowl of popcorn, and enjoy.
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About the Reviewer: Rod Gustafson
Rod Gustafson has worked in various media industries since 1977. He founded Parent Previews in 1993, and today continues to write and broadcast the reviews in newspapers, on radio and (of course) on the Internet. He currently serves as the President of the Alberta Association for Media Awareness, a provincial non-profit society. He also authors a regular column for The Parent's Television Council in Los Angeles. He and his wife Donna have four children.
