Year Released: 1995
Directed by: Jon Turteltaub
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, Jack Warden, Michael Rispoli, Peter Gallagher
(PG-103 min.)
Genre: Romantic Comedy

“A film about love at second sight…”

Sandra Bullock glows as the lovelorn CTA ticket taker hopelessly in love with a regular commuter, but the whole cast is tremendous as well. She is the shimmering star atop the Christmas tree, but the others are the lights and ornaments that make this film sparkle.

Remember when romantic comedies touched our hearts? When they celebrated love and not lust, when senior citizen had a certain maturity instead of unbridled vulgar passions?

It’s a lot harder to write these films than relying on bathroom humor or relentless nihilism, Hollywood’s current staples.

Of course, we have to suspend our disbelief at bit here, or maybe I should say, put it in a lockbox, but the hilarious misadventures of Lucy Eleanor Moderatz (Sandra Bullock) carry us along.

It seems Lucy’s admiration for her mystery man’s coat is shared by the thugs who compliment it just before stealing his scarf and shoving him onto the tracks. Without a thought Lucy is down there on the tracks with him, staring down the upcoming train but unable to move him. At the last minute she rolls the two of them from certain death.

How could she not check on him at the hospital afterward, but the same impulsiveness that made her a hero initiates the tangled web of mistaken identities that will ensnare more than just Lucy.

In a sense, While You Were Sleeping is a French farce without the bed hopping. And let’s face it, the comatose Peter Callaghan (Peter Gallagher) isn’t up to any of that by a long shot.

“I was going to marry him” is Lucy’s voiced dream, not a claim to being his fiancée, as the nurse, and soon Peter’s entire family believe to be God’s truth.

How and why she keeps up this deception is explained away in true Tinseltown tradition: Peter’s grandmother has a heart condition and the shocking truth might kill her.

But it is the love of that eccentric family that cements the deal, especially the after Christmas family dinner they invite her to.

After all, the guilt-ridden Lucy is alone in the world except for her cat.

“I have a house, and family, and things like that... not like I'm complaining or anything, because I have a cat, I have an apartment, sole possession of the remote control. That's very important. It's just, I never met anyone I could laugh with.” –Lucy

So she dances in a tango of lies as she is drawn into the warmth of the Callaghan clan.

Lucy:
The truth was that I fell in love with you.

Ox Callahan:
You fell in love with me?

Lucy: No, No. All of you. I went from being all alone to being a fiancée, a daughter, a granddaughter, a sister and a friend.

Only when younger brother Jack (Bill Pullman) arrives does the dance become a bit trickier.

Especially the trek across an icy lot where a perfectly choreographed slapstick balancing act has Jack and Lucy clinging to each other to stay upright. Despite the cold, the sparks begin to fly.

Jack tries to downplay it, but we all can read his infatuation with her.

Lucy: "You don't have to walk me home."
Jack: "You block the wind."

Or as he lamely explains to his brother,

I’d say that she gets under your skin as soon as you meet her. She drives you so nuts you don’t know whether to hug her or, or just really arm wrestle her. She would go all the way to Europe just to get a stamp in her passport. I don’t know if that amounts to insanity , or just being realy, really…likable.

***

Kudos to Peter’s Jewish Godfather Saul (Jack Warden), who learns the truth but keeps persuading Lucy to delay revealing it. Of course, his good intentions only muddle everything up more.

Another gem is Joe Fusco, Jr. (Michael Rispoli), who wears his crass pretensions like a warm overcoat, his unrequited affection for Lucy a mirror to hers for the comatose Peter.

· Lucy: Doesn't anybody use a phone anymore?
Joe Jr.: I do.
Lucy: I'm not talking about 900 numbers.
Joe Jr.: Who told?

Or his heartfelt, giving spirit:

Joe Jr. Hey Pop. Can I give that bottle of Blue Nun you got from Cousin Ornello to my probation officer?

Need a little Christmas cheer in these hard times? Treat yourself to this witty, frothy film from a quarter of a decade ago, when Hollywood was where dreams and not nightmares came true.

–Kathy Borich
🥁🥁🥁🥁

Trailer

Film-Loving Foodie

Before she enters the Callaghan home for their after Christmas party, their neighbor Saul warns Lucy to drink the ginger ale, not the homemade eggnog specialty everyone praises in another brazen but good natured fabrication. After a few sips of the nog, she understands.

Not all homemade eggnog is horrible, though. Ours is simply delicious. Enjoy.

Or maybe you’d like to venture over to Thor’s Viking haunts for some special Norwegian Eggnog. You have to eat this with a spoon, but I assure you, it too, is simply delicious. Especially if you opt for the Cognac instead of the vanilla.

God Appetitt!

Homemade Eggnog

Equipment

· Fine Mesh Strainer

· Clear Mugs

· Instant-read digital thermometer.

Ingredients

· 6 large egg yolks

· 1/2 cup granulated sugar

· 1 cup heavy whipping cream

· 2 cups milk

· 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

· pinch of salt

· 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

· ground cinnamon , for topping

· alcohol optional, see note

Instructions

1. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a medium bowl until light and creamy.

2. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the cream, milk, nutmeg and salt. Stir often until mixture reaches a bare simmer.

3. Add a big spoonful of the hot milk to the egg mixture, whisking vigorously. Repeat, adding a big spoonful at a time, to temper the eggs.

4. Once most of the hot milk has been added to the eggs, pour the mixture back into the saucepan on the stove.

5. Whisk constantly for just a few minutes, until the mixture is just slightly thickened (or until it reaches about 160 degrees F on a thermometer). It will thicken more as it cools.

6. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, and alcohol*, if using.

7. Pour the eggnog through a fine mesh strainer into a pitcher or other container and cover with plastic wrap.

8. Refrigerate until chilled. It will thicken as it cools. If you want a thinner, completely smooth consistency, you can add the entire mixture to a blender with 1 or 2 tablespoons of milk and blend until smooth.

9. Serve with a sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg, and fresh whipped cream, if desired.

10. Store homemade eggnog in the fridge for up to one week.

Notes

Alcohol: If you want to add alcohol to your eggnog, start with 1/4 cup brandy, bourbon, rum or whisky added at the same time as the vanilla, or after cooling the eggnog. Add more to taste, if desired.

Yield: about 4 cups

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