12 Days of Christmas Films: While You Were Sleeping {1}

(Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow, you guys! I hope you all have a lovely day.)

I know that I usually do a post about my favorite Christmas movies every year, but I've only occasionally written reviews of them. I feel like I didn't get to do an awful lot of Christmas-related posts last year, because my computer crashed at the beginning of December. So this year I've decided to do a special series (I know, I really need another series going on :).

I'm going to have the twelve days of Christmas...films! These won't be consecutive days, but between now and December 25th, I'm going to review my favorite holiday movies.

For those of you who might not be celebrating just yet, I'm starting off probably the least Christmassy movie on my list. It takes place at that time of year and has holiday atmosphere, but it's not so Christmassy that I feel guilty about watching it all during the year. Because I do watch it all through the year. :)

First up, While You Were Sleeping!

You know how sometimes you watch a movie and you just instantly connect with it? I stumbled across While You Were Sleeping last year on Netflix. I loved it so much that I actually got it through Netflix three times. Then I finally got the DVD last Christmas...and I've watched it again three or four times so far this year.

I'm sure I have a goofy grin on my face the whole time I'm watching this movie, right from that song at the beginning until the credits. It's just so fun and sweet. Just in case you don't have any idea what this film is about, here's a summary: Lucy works at a train station in Chicago as a token/ticket collector. She has a crush on a man who comes through the station everyday, though they've never really spoken. On Christmas, Lucy ends up saving the man's life when he falls onto the train tracks, and when she gets to the hospital, there's a misunderstanding and everyone believes that she is his fiancee. Everyone except his suspicious (and very handsome *ahem*) brother, Jack. :) Unbelievable? Yes. Does that bother me? Not a bit.

Lucy is such a likable character. She just wants a happily ever after. (And if we're honest, most of us have probably daydreamed about someone we don't really know, right? Though if I were Lucy, I have to say that Peter would have not been the one I chose. :) I love how she's not the kind of perfect girl that's so typical in romantic comedies. Lucy lives alone in a little apartment with her cat. She doesn't have the best job. She wears oversized sweaters and ugly stocking hats and her dad's old coat. (It always cracks me up how she nonchalantly pulls that gift out of the sleeve of her huge sweater towards the beginning.)

And Jack...okay, let's talk about Jack. :) How can you not love him from the first moment he appears on screen? Jack with his floppy hair, boots, plaid shirts, and denim. And he has a really lovely, unusual, deep voice. He's basically the perfect snarky, truck-driving, furniture-building 90s guy. :) {I know I've mentioned this before, but the first time I watched this film, it took a while for Jack to grow on me, and for one reason only: I couldn't stop thinking of him as the dad from Casper. But I got over that pretty quickly, as you can see...}

As for the other characters, I love Peter and Jack's family. They're so kooky and fun, but not over-the-top. You feel like they could be a family you know. Lucy doesn't have anyone until she meets them...you can't blame her for wanting to be part of their family! {As for Peter, I never liked him. I didn't like him at the beginning, but my dislike was solidified when Lucy is looking in his wallet and he has all of the pictures...of himself. Same thing in his apartment. Hint #1 that he's not for you, Lucy!} And this is completely random, but their house is so cozy and Christmassy.

Aside from the characters, the rest of the movie is just wonderful. It's set in Chicago...for some reason most of my favorite modern romantic comedies are set in big cities (You've Got Mail, for example), though I don't like cities at all. The soundtrack is really great. There are a couple of Glenn Miller Christmas songs and an Ella Fitzgerald one, too! And the humor is perfect. There are lots of witty zingers and then just some other random hilarious moments, like the paper boy wiping out on his bike and Jack fainting after giving blood.

Some of my favorite scenes: the entire part where Lucy and Jack are delivering the couch to Peter's apartment. They are so stinking cute together! And then the dinner scene is hilarious. It definitely has an old movie feel to it. There are several random, unrelated conversations going on at once. Everyone is talking over each other and they're oblivious to the other conversations that are happening. :) I also love the "wedding" scene and the very end, of course.

So...I love this movie. Can you tell? :) From the first time I saw it, it felt like an old favorite that I've been watching for years and years. I can watch it repeatedly and not get tired of it, and it always makes me smile.

 

Have you ever seen While You Were Sleeping?

{P.S. There is some mild language in the movie. And there are some inappropriate comments and a few awkward scenes scattered throughout. Some of them involve Joe, Jr., but the most awkward one takes place in the hospital. If you skip from the point where Jack is questioning Lucy in front of the family at the hospital, and the grandmother says that if Lucy really is the fiancee she can prove it, until after the family crowds into the elevator, then you'll miss most of that scene. :) }