While You Were Sleeping, Or: Why, In 10,000 Words Or More, I Love Bill Pullman

I wanted to write a post about my love for Bill Pullman. I chose as a focus the film While You Were Sleeping. And … er…. things got a little out of control. This is basically a moment-to-moment analysis of the film. I do a shot-by-shot breakdown of While You Were Feckin’ Sleeping, for God’s sake. Argh. I couldn’t stop myself. Only true obsessives should read on. I realize it’s long. I also had a blast writing it over the last 2 weeks. Reveling in Bill Pullman!! To the most obsessive degree possible! Whoo-hoo!!

Onward!

To the JOY that is the film While You Were Sleeping – one of my eternal favorites!!

— For some reason, the soundtrack to this film strikes me as PERFECT. So often in romantic comedies, you get total over-kill with the soundtrack – they bash you over the head with their message (Hugh Grant strolling sadly thru the streets after breaking up with Julia Roberts in Notting Hill and what begins to play? “Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone”. Bad. BAD.) While You Were Sleeping is a romantic comedy, sure – but it has that ever-elusive quality that so few filsm have: it has WIT. The soundtrack is witty. Clever. Subtle. There’s music playing beneath almost every single scene, and instead of being annoying, or too obvious, or … too much – it just adds to the MOOD. The mood of the film is sincere, and also WITTY. You care about these people. The music doesn’t insist that you care … it just supports the general mood. Well done.

— The opening, narrated wonderfully and very … HUMANly … by Sandra Bullock is sepia-toned, and yet it maintains that witty energy. Listen to how she says the word “Milwaukee”. It sets it up … her voiceover does not tell the end of the story … and we can hear her insecurity in her voice, and also her … well, frankly, her delusional nature. She goes off the deep end when talking about her “Prince” (played by Peter Gallagher) – a man she has never met. She works for the CTA in Chicago in a token booth – and every morning she watches him get on the train. Bullock’s voiceover here is very funny. It’s not a SILLY movie … made for MORONS, like so many romantic comedies are. We can see that Bullock is living in a fantasy world … because of all she has lost in her life. She’s alone in the world. She has a fantasy that she will someday meet this “Prince”. And here’s a nice detail: Peter Gallagher is so bizarrely good-looking, kind of overblown, in the Billy Zane vein … that you immediately don’t like him. Handsomeness like that seems … suspicious. This is perfect for the part. BUT … there’s a tiny detail in the first footage we see of him, running to get the train … Bullock stares at him longingly from behind the toll booth window … he runs to get the train, the doors are closing, and he jams his way in … and then holds them open for a little old woman who is right behind him – he lets her go in first. Now – the moment is not a huge deal, it’s not filmed like he’s the reincarnation of Christ, but Bullock does mention it later … as something she notices that he does, habitually: let old people go first. It’s a character thing. She is looking for love – and so of course she is tuned in to the DETAILS of this guy. She notices EVERYTHING. And instead of the voiceover just telling us: “I love this guy … he’s perfect …” we get to see a little subtle moment of his kindness which tells us WHY she thinks he’s perfect. It’s SPECIFIC. Good movies are ALWAYS specific. And romantic comedies have to work even HARDER to be good because there are such old cliches everywhere … you can’t just rely on the cliches … you have to still be SPECIFIC.

— The first real scene in the film we see Bullock hoisting a Christmas tree up to her apartment through the window. First of all – this is SUCH a Chicago movie, and that is SUCH a Chicago apartment. It just … makes me homesick. The whole thing.

— Joe Jr. is a big-talkin’ buffoon who is the son of Lucy’s landlord. He wears tight T-shirts, his ass-crack hangs out, and he is hot on Lucy’s trail. He’s actually a sweet guy, but Lucy is so not interested in him. I think he plays it as a caricature. Everyone else in the film is eccentric as well, quirky – but he seems like a caricature. Also, he doesn’t really seem like a Chicago caricature … although there is the whole “Da Bears” thing that he could fit into … but it seems more like a New York City caricature. A Bronx caricature. Also, he doesn’;t have the same accent as his father. Why does Joe Jr. talk like Tony Soprano while his father sounds like a Chicagoan? Don’t get me wrong: there is sweetness in the Joe Jr. character – and I actually do like some of his scenes with Lucy – but to my mind, this is one of the few times that the film goes wrong. He’s too over-the-top – it seems cartoonish.

— Lucy’s CTA boss Jerry (played by Jason Bernard – wonderful actor – died in 1996) is a great character. He has some very funny moments – all perfectly played. I’m telling you: everyone in this film has perfect pitch, when it comes to their characters, and the moments, and what needs to be happening in order to make this film work. It’s quite impressive. Just think about how many “romantic comedies” absolutely SUCK. It’s HARD to do well. This one is one of the best. So the first time we see Jerry is in the beginning of the film – Lucy and Jerry go and get hotdogs at a hotdog stand down in the freezing Loop – Jerry is obviously a nice guy, and they obviously are friends – this is established within 2 seconds of the scene – but he, as her boss, has to ask her to work on Christmas Day. She is the only one “without family”. It’s a lovely little scene that establishes Lucy not just as a sad sack who has “no family” but as a sweet woman who has good friends in her life, people who care about her.

— Another detail that is great in this film: throughout the movie, Sandra Bullock, a big movie star, wears a billowing ugly black overcoat. She doesn’t ever look chic. She barely looks presentable, actually. Later in the film it comes out that the jacket was her dad’s. They don’t make a big deal about it beforehand – it’s just the coat that she wears – but I admit that the first time I saw her in it, I thought: “Damn … her coat SUCKS … ” and then, later, when a “reason” was given for it – I suddenly filled up with tears. It was a CHARACTER thing. They don’t make a fetish of the coat, they just let her walk around looking like crap for the first half of the film. I can’t even explain how out of the ordinary this is for normal big-star Hollywood actresses. Sandra Bullock is not like that.

— It’s so contrived how the family ends up thinking she is Peter’s fiance – but somehow it works – and that is all I ask of a good romantic comedy. That it WORKS. Think of Bringing Up Baby. It is completely contrived that the ONLY OUTFITS available in that house out in Connecticut is 1. a negligee 2. a goofy jodhpur ensemble. It is contrived. It is set up that way to up the comedy and to make Cary Grant look as RIDICULOUS as possible. It’s delicious. The same is true in this film. Through that first scene when the family rushes into the hospital, and through a series of accidents, they all believe that she is his fiance – and they never let Lucy finish the sentence that would EXPLAIN IT ALL … you are thinking to yourself: “Let her finish! Let her tell the truth!” But they are a chatty group … and they are overwhelmed by the fact that she has saved his life … and so they WANT to believe that she is “the fiance” and … she no longer has the heart to disappoint them. For me, it works.

— It also works because the family is immediately lovable. They are chaotic, annoyed with each other, they all talk at the same time, and they obviously love each other like crazy. Yet they never say the words “I love you” or anything like that. It is all just understood – because we all know families like that – and some of us (ahem) came from families like that. Families where you have to SHOUT to get a word in edgewise … families where it is understood that if you are INSULTED it means we LIKE you … I love them all. I especially love them because the wonderful Glynis Johns plays the grandmother with the heart murmur. She’s wonderful – a brilliant little comedic portrait. She hits a home run with every one of her jokes. And Peter Boyle plays the father. And Jack Warden plays Saul, the next-door neighbor and dear family friend. Micole Mercurio plays the mother – and I have no idea who this actress is, or what her deal is – she has had a long career – but she is just comedic GENIUS in this role. If you just watch HER in the background of the group scenes … just watch her. She is ALWAYS alive. She is the OPPOSITE of “waiting for her closeup”. She is always present and something funny is ALWAYS going on. I love her performance. A young and gangly teenage Monica Keena plays Mary, the younger sister in the family – she plays the perfect baby sister. You just love her. The family immediately embraces her. “But you haven’t met Jack yet!” they say. Hmmmm … who’s Jack??

— I love the little moment where Lucy sits at home with her frozen dinner and she put the cat’s food on the table – pours a bit of milk for the cat – calls out to the cat … and then suddenly there she sits, deciding whether or not to go join the family’s Christmas dinner … It’s all on her face. You can tell that she SO wants to go and spend time with them again … and as she thinks, she takes an Oreo out of the package, dips it into the cat’s milk and eats it. A beautiful (and sad) little character moment.

— Jack Warden is terrific. Did you know he fought in the Battle of the Bulge??

— Watch the details in the scene where Lucy goes to spend Christmas night with the family. There’s too much to even list – you feel like you are looking at a slice of life. The jokes about Grandma’s awful eggnog, but how everyone drinks it so as not to hurt her feelings … the reaction shots when everyone opens their presents – and we see Lucy staring at them – and then we go back to a slow pan across the family – and we see them as SHE sees them. They, in all their argumentative chaotic loudness, are the epitome of beauty to her. Of love. Then a slow pan up behind Lucy’s head to show that they have already hung a stocking on the mantel for her. It says it all. They are a family with elastic walls. Lucy lives in a stingy world, with few friends, a quiet life, and a rigid routine. She is “fixed”. This family opened up to accept her. I don’t know … Believe it or not, this scene is NOT sentimental. It is SPECIFIC. I don’t like sentimental, I don’t like it – it’s too easy a choice. It’s not human enough. But this scene with the family, and with Lucy looking on works. And many of the lines themselves are so amusing – but everyone’s talking at once so you can’t catch them sometimes … You hear them in snippets, overheard snippets – “Uncle Al … you remember Uncle Al …” “Who the hell is Uncle Al?” “Seven bowties!” “Oh … the GOLD WATCH … I love it!!”

— Then we come to the big entrance of Bill Pullman – who plays Jack, the other son in the family. He, so far, is the big mystery – the guy everyone keeps talking about … but hasn’t been seen yet. The first glimpse we get of him in this film is a beat-up truck pulling up outside the family house – the door opening – and we see his feet, getting out of the truck. Big workboots. This sets him up perfectly: he’s a MAN. He’s certainly not like his brother who would never wear boots like that. It’s a slightly ominous shot … it’s like we know that this brother is going to smell bullshit from a mile away. Which is kind of scary but also a bit sexy.

— Now a couple of words on Bill Pullman:

Bill Pullman has gotten some cheesy jobs in his day … he is not a HUGE star … so he really does need to work for a living, he takes what he can gets – and for the most part it’s not too bad. But in my opinion, what he does in While You Were Sleeping kind of stands alone, in terms of his career. He is a romantic leading man in this film. And … despite his WASPy good looks, he’s got an edge. A romantic leading man without some kind of edge is feckin’ boring. He’s got an EDGE. There’s something about him where you feel like he COULD be unlikable, or he could lose his temper … if you pushed him too hard. He’s not a wuss. Pullman hasn’t played that many romantic leads – he plays the boring clumsy boyfriend of the lead girl before she dumps his ass and goes and gets her REAL true love. He plays “nice guys”. He plays guys who mean well, who sneeze at unfortunate times, who trip over their own feet … and yet who you just don’t feel romantic towards (Sleepless in Seattle being the prime example). He is very good at this stuff – this kind of comedic wry-faced stuff – the sort of guy who you might not THINK is sexy … but then he takes off his glasses, and women swoon. This is why I say he would make a great “hero” in a screwball comedy – like Dr. Huxley in Bringing Up Baby. There’s a part of him that couldn’t smoulder with passion if he tried – he’s too serious, and distracted – and yet – there’s something there … something that makes you feel like if he just took off his glasses, and – er – took off his clothes – he’d be an animal in the sack. If he could just FOCUS, if he could just let his “serious work” in the lab or in the classroom go for one second – he would be fully present, and it would be very very sexy. This kind of thing is what made Cary Grant so popular. The dichotomy: the bumbling professor with the dashing good looks … It’s a cliche now, but only because Cary Grant made it so. I think Bill Pullman could do a role like that. I think he could play the Howard Bannister-esque roles (which rarely come along – we don’t make good screwball comedies anymore) to perfection. Has he been in a Woody Allen film? He’d be a fantastic Woody Allen hero as well. (Not in one of Allen’s serious films – but like Manhattan Murder Mystery, one of my favorite movies of all time.) He has an air of kind of cranky distraction that is very very attractive, because it shows that he is a man who has a brain. He thinks. Most romantic leading men seem brainless or … like they have no lives outside of the romance going on in the film. This is common of most leads in romantic comedies. Do these people read books? Have goals? Friends? Family? No. They are just there to have this love affair unfold. I love romantic comedies which let in the outside world, where the leads are rather complicated – with other stuff going on (Say Anything is a prime example – at least in my mind – We get to see what is going on in both their lives – which makes their sweet little romance that much more poignant – We can see that the love affair is a RESPITE, it is a BREAK from the sometimes harsh realities of their lives. This is something I can relate to. I like romantic comedies for adults. I’m an adult. I have romances, sometimes. But my other life goes on. I have issues from past relationships that I bring to the present one. I falter. I get insecure. I have competing interests. I have a romance AND I go home and read books. Or go to the gym. Or talk with my parents. This is all very real – and I love romantic comedies that ADMIT that.)

So Bill Pullman’s Jack in While You Were Sleeping is a true leading man – in the true tradition of it. He’s sexy, kind of cranky, he also has a strange strain of shyness with women – which makes the whole combination totally attractive. Pullman has never before had the opportunity to show that many sides. He’s really GOOD at it, actually – and it’s a bummer he doesn’t get more parts like this.

— When Jack enters the family house, the party is over and everyone is asleep. Well, everyone except the younger sister. Lucy is asleep on the couch. Jack peeks in at her. He is told that this is “Peter’s fiance”. He says, so simply, and with almost no inflection, “That’s not Peter’s fiance.” He just knows. He’s that kind of guy – he’s got a nose for bullshit. He just knows the type of women his brother goes for – and the sleeping brunette on the couch is not that type. But look at how he looks in at her. There’s so much going on in his face. It’s not just suspicion. It’s … he’s intrigued, too. Who is this girl? He’s weirdly drawn to her. Pullman does all of this with NO LINES.

— Oh and one of my favorite moments in the movie which goes a lot to describing its charm happens next: It’s early the next morning. We see the snowy streets outside the family house. A paper boy on his bike pedals towards the camera, throwing newspapers at each house. We see him throw one paper, pedal pedal, another paper, pedal pedal … then he goes to throw the next paper and suddenly he completely loses control of his bike on the ice and has a devastating crash. It’s so RANDOM … it means NOTHING … but it’s just a great little detail that is hilariously funny and makes the movie special, and more than just a stupid little romance. I laugh every time I see that kid crash.

— Lucy is up early, trying to sneak out of the family house before everyone wakes up – specifically before Jack wakes up, because she was actually awake the night before, and heard him say, “That’s not Peter’s fiance …” She is afraid of Jack. She tiptoes out into the foyer – and of course, Jack is sitting there, on the stairway, with his coffee, waiting for her.

They have an incredibly awkward meeting – well, SHE’S awkward, and he’s cool as a cuke. He’s got this kind of bemused smile as he watches her fumble around – he’s picking up on all of her cues … “I guess … I don’t remember meeting you …” She goes to leave, and he stops her … “Lucy …” She thinks she’s about to be busted, so she decides to come clean: “Look … ” and you know she’s about to tell the truth, but of course – he cuts her off. And says, “Welcome to the family.” There’s a shyness on his face, a reticence – but beneath all of it is – warmth. You like this guy. He seems nice. Much nicer than his more slick brother. Lucy then hurries out of the house and we go back to Pullman’s face for just a second. It’s hard to describe what I see, but he’s left alone there – thinking about her – it’s a close-up. He still has that same bemused little smile, and then – it’s a tiny moment – but it speaks volumes – a seriousness comes over his face. It’s all in his eyes. It’s a beautiful moment. You wonder what he’s thinking. Now that’s a good movie star. You can always see them thinking, but it’s not always clear what they are thinking about. There’s a certain amount of mystery maintained – and this is what keeps us hooked in to them. Does he like Lucy? Does he think she’s pretty? Is he jealous of his brother? Or just worried that she’s a scam artist? Not sure … but you know that the guy is thinking some thing. And you want to know what it is.

— Watch Peter Boyle during the next scene when the family is at mass. Jack keeps trying to talk to his father, in between “Lord hear our prayer”s – about Lucy, and Peter Boyle answers – never ever missing an ‘Amen”. It’s hysTERical. He doesn’t take a moment to say “Amen” in a prayerful way, it’s completely rote – and it seems as though he’s not even listening to the mass being said, yet he chimes in with his “Amen”s right on cue. Jack whispers, “If Peter were engaged, he would have announced it in the Sun Times.” Peter Boyle murmurs back, “We read the Tribune Amen.” hahahahaha

— Then of course comes another misunderstanding. Jack goes to Lucy’s apartment building and runs into Joe Jr. Joe Jr. repeats his delusion – that he and Lucy are “dating”. So now Jack thinks that Lucy is double-timing his brother.

— Lucy goes to Peter’s palatial apartment to feed the cat. The hospital had given her his “personal effects” – which kind of doesn’t make sense – but whatever – it works. She walks around, tiptoeing really, saying, “Here, kitty kitty …” Meanwhile we see that Jack, who is obviously on some kind of warpath, is also coming to Peter’s apartment … He lets himself in … and for a while the two of them are wandering around Peter’s apartment without knowing the other is there. Lucy then pushes open a swinging door and smashes Bill Pullman in the face. A stupid gag – but whatever, I’m simple and easily pleased and it makes me laugh every time I see it. He totally gets SMASHED in the face – and you hear his big “OW” – and then Lucy, horrified, starts racing around the kitchen trying to get ice on his nose … she hands him a couple ice cubes … he fumbles with them for a second, and then you can see him say to himself, “Oh fuck it” and he tosses the ice cubes in the sink. It’s a funny moment. He is on her trail. “Peter doesn’t have a cat.” The entire scene is a riot because they are both just LYING to each other and trying to COVER their asses throughout. They’re both kind of bad liars – but they circle each other warily, trying to be “nice”, but … wondering what the hell is up with the other one. He doesn’t want to let her out of his sight. Hmmmm.

— The two of them go to the hospital together to give blood. Jack is still questioning Lucy … “When did you start seeing Peter?” He won’t let it die. He just knows something isn’t right with this girl and now he “knows” that she is dating Joe Jr. But what’s wonderful about Pullman is that … even though HE might not be aware of it yet … it’s obvious that he has some other motives here … HE’S not thinking: “Hm. This girl is kind of great. I’d like to have her for myself.” But … somehow … Pullman lets us know that there is an element of that going on. For example – he says to her, as they give blood: “We’ll need to get a picture of you and Peter for the mantel.” She hems and haws and says, “I’m really not that photogenic.” And he says, sort of to himself, “I doubt that.” He kind of loses his cool for a second – it’s a very funny moment – he’s not in control for a minute, and he lets his attraction for her come out. I love that moment: “I doubt that.”

— Jack shows up at Lucy’s apartment to give her an “engagement present”. It’s a couch from one of the estates that the family manages as their business. Lucy says, visibly uncomfortable for a variety of reasons – the first being that SHE IS NOT ENGAGED … suggests that they bring the couch, together, to Peter’s apartment.

— So now follows the long scene where – they basically fall in love. It’s so well done, I never get tired of watching it. It’s humorous, there’s more NOT said than stuff that IS said … and the moments of affection and curiosity that bloom are handled really sensitively. It feels like a real night that two people would have. The kind of night when you suddenly look at someone and you realize: “Wow. I like you.” This is all done with BEHAVIOR, too. Not WORDS. In the movies, you really should say less and do more. There’s a reason why smart movie stars (Cary Grant, Bogart, Cooper – but they all did it) sit down with scripts and cut out half of their lines. Say LESS and you will be more effective. It’s a visual medium. If you can do it with a look on your face, then do it with a look on your face – and don’t describe WHY you have that look on your face. On stage, you need lines to do a lot of the work for you. Not so with films. It’s the opposite.

— The two of them open the back of the truck – and there is a love seat (garish) and a gorgeous Shaker-esque rocking chair. She oohs and ahhs over the rocking chair which, of course, he made. He has a dream of breaking away from the family business and being a furniture maker – but it’s complicated – “rejecting” his father’s business, etc. But I would ask you to watch Bill Pullman’s face as Lucy goes ga-ga over the chair. The thing that makes him a good leading man is that he doesn’t really seem to think that he is that big a deal. He doesn’t have a puffed-up ego. He is unaware of how charming he is. He’s diffident, and kind of humble. George Cukor said about Cary Grant, “One of the reasons he was so successful as an actor was that he truly just behaved like he was a normal guy and like he didn’t look like that.” Bill Pullman, obviously, doesn’t have the glitter of Cary Grant, and his good looks are much more normal – like you could imagine knowing a guy like that in real life, whereas it’s hard to imagine ever meeting someone who looks like Cary Grant … Cary Grant HAD to be in the movies. But the essential quality: of a lack of ego, of a sort of shyness, of a “Oh, forget it, I’m not that great” energy – is the same. It’s so attractive.

— He ends up having to walk her home because his truck is blocked in. So then we get a shot of the two of them walking, at night, along the Chicago River (gorgeous – although it makes very little sense geographically … she lives north, and I am imagining WAY north … so … why are they walking THAT way? And … er … why don’t they take the L? Oh, never mind with these pesky questions. It’s a lovely scene – my favorite in the movie – because of their conversation, and how they talk to each other.) Sigh. This scene is beautiful because it reminds me of those moments, those magical moments, BEFORE something happens with someone you are really interested in. And you KNOW they are interested in you. And somehow the conversation flows … and there’s that beautiful feeling, that shivery feeling … that something’s gonna happen here … When you KNOW that a person is interested in you, and they are honing in on you … it gives you such a confidence, it’s like you can do no wrong. Insecurity dissolves, you don’t second-guess yourself, or re-think your words … You feel confident. Glowing. You start to see yourself as THEY see you. Sigh.

That’s what this long walk home is about. He’s not asking her questions anymore to interrogate her, or to try to find out who this suspicious fiance is … He’s asking her questions because he is interested in her.

Also, another great thing about this film: many romantic comedies actually are populated by people who have no senses of humor. I mean, what a bunch of humorless sad sacks!! Do these people laugh? One of the best things about falling in love is finding someone who shares your wacky sense of humor. Who can be goofy in the same way that you are. Who makes you laugh. So many films miss this important component – but the GOOD ones never do. I submit that Notting Hill is a great example of one of the GOOD ones, and for this very reason. These two characters have great chemistry and tenderness between them – but they also laugh at the same things. There are SCENES where the two of them are just being funny FOR each other. And, for me, more so than any other part of falling in love – that’s the best part. Being funny FOR someone. I call it “pro-actively funny”. I always fall in love with guys, first of all, who already are pro-actively funny – it’s just my preference – humor is #1 in my book – but when someone goes out of their way to make you laugh … when the two of you can people-watch together and giggle about the same things … now THAT is a relationship that could have legs. This long scene of the two of them walking home through Chicago is that kind of scene. It has tenderness, too – quiet moments – they’re getting to know each other, they’re alone for really the first time … but what gives the scene its charm, its goosebump-factor – is that the two of them actually crack each other up.

I LOVE THAT. It’s so hard to get that across, it’s so hard to write and perform witty dialogue – without being arch, or too clever … This is about people who genuinely enjoy one another, and who are discovering that AS they talk. It’s beautiful.

He’s asking her questions like, “So … if you could go to one place in the world … where would you go?” She says immediately, “Florence.” It’s THAT kind of conversation. She, even though she’s supposed to be in love with her “Prince”, even though she’s got this dream of a “perfect guy”, starts responding, giggling … they have a chemistry.

He asks her what her father was like. She says, making a joke (and also – maybe – saying it before he has a chance to say it or even THINK IT): “He was a lot like me … dark hair … flat chest …” He bursts into laughter, surprised at her – enjoying her – but there’s SO MUCH GOING ON IN THAT MOMENT. I admit it: I have rewound many times, so I can watch his reaction shot to her saying that. It’s just so … real. He laughs – just from the surprise … but there’s also a shyness there, like: “Uhm … okay, now I am totally thinking about your breasts right now …” He gets them off the topic as quickly as possible … but it’s beautiful – because you can see him getting … er … kinda hot for her. It’s so subtle … but you can see it.

Another nice subtle moment during this scene is … they’re strolling along the river, and they pass by a canoodling couple. (I love any chance I get to use the word “canoodling”.) Lucy is chatting on about something, Jack is asking her questions – and as they pass by, he glances at the canoodlers, looks away, and then … looks back for a closer look. Very subtle – but it sort of ups the possibility for romance. Like being in the presence of a make-out session makes him think: “Hm. I would like to kiss this woman beside me. This woman who is the fiance of my brother. I HATE MY BROTHER. I want to kiss her.” Pullman doesn’t telegraph any of this – like I said, it’s a subtle moment – just two quick looks – but they say WORLDS about his state of mind.

— Sweet intimate moment when Lucy takes her passport out of her bag to show him. She has never been anywhere, but she dreams of going to Florence … and she keeps her passport up to date just in case. I love that character detail. Beautiful. Jack looks at her passport, makes a snarky remark about her photograph (“Wow. You were right. You’re not photogenic.”) but you can tell that he … in that moment … sees her. Maybe better than she sees herself. She has dreams. She wants to get out. Go. It’s pretty amazing to carry your passport around with you. And in that moment – it’s like he thinks to himself: “I want to give this woman her dreams. I want her to travel.” Again – this is done with no dialogue. It’s all in the subtlety of Pullman’s acting. It’s how he looks at the passport, how he feels he has to make a joke about it … basically to fight this overwhelming urge to make a pass at his brother’s fiance.

— They make it back to Lucy’s apartment (which, judging from the look of her neighborhood) is probably a 2 hour walk from the Loop – but again, who I am to judge their location choices … and as they come into view, they are still talking. Oh man. Member having nights like that? Sigh … They come up to the front of her building and there is a huge patch of ice there. Jack, ever the gentleman, says – “I’ll walk you to your door …” (Ahem. He doesn’t want the evening to end.) So carefully they start across the ice … (listen to how the soundtrack changes here, too … Like I said in the beginning, I love the soundtrack … it’s very sensitive to the tiny changes going on in the film – the music here changes from a kind of melancholy nostalgic romantic tune – to the more witty tune, which punches up the absurd nature of the moment: the two of them tiptoeing across this blank sheet of ice). And of course, she goes DOWN – he grabs onto her – she struggles –

they both start to laugh – things are getting out of control – Bullock is great here. Her perfect kind of moment, as an actress. Not too many actresses are good at playing women who have senses of humor. Especially senses of humor about themselves. She’s AWESOME at it and always has been. So she starts to laugh – he is heaving her up by her armpits – and she suddenly can’t stop laughing – and then that starts him laughing – and then of course, they both wipe OUT on the ice.

Contrived? Yes. Does it work? Yes. The two of them play it to perfection. It seems like a real moment. They struggle to their feet … he’s still holding onto her, and suddenly, when they’re both on their feet, holding onto each other, there’s a moment of … silence, where they’re looking at each other. It’s like the moment in Bringing Up Baby when she trips over the log and falls on her face. Cary Grant rushes to her side, to help her, she’s crying, hysterical … and for one brief second, Cary Grant leans in to kiss her. You can watch him go for it. Then he stops himself. Pulls himself together. But there’s that moment … it’s the first moment you really see him want to make a move, because the rest of the movie he is running away from her at top speed, shouting, “LEAVE ME ALONE.” But something about that moment, the proximity, the fact that she has fallen, that he is now “taking care of her” – you watch him move in to kiss her. And then abruptly pull back. Lucy and Jack have a moment like that. His face kind of gets serious, tender – but tentative still … This woman is off-limits. She’s taken.

Lucy then starts for her door, he follows – she is laughing, she says, “No really … you don’t have to follow me …” He replies, “No, you block the wind …” which is, actually, a really funny line. And Bullock – you can see her just double over in laughter. She CACKLES at his humor, his funny line. I LOVE that. I relate to it. If there’s one thing my boyfriends have all had in common – it is that they are FUNNY. On PURPOSE. I also love, too, how it seems like a truly spontaneous moment … when it’s NOT. Those are LINES from a SCRIPT. But it seems like his “you block the wind” takes her by surprise. Lovely little acting moment there. They have a meaningful moment where they say goodbye … Something has shifted during their walk, and they both feel it.

— The next scene is between Lucy and her boss. She confesses, in a panic, “I’m having an affair. I like Jack!!” Her boss finally has had it, and says one of the funniest lines in the film, “Lucy, you are BORN into a family. You do not JOIN them like you do the Marines!”

— Next scene: Bill Pullman sits with his brother, who is still in a coma – and plays cards with him. Of course playing both hands. And he talks. Talks to his brother. Something about the lighting in this scene makes Pullman look not just handsome … but unbelievably handsome. I am sure that this is deliberate. Because now he is not just the suspicious brother – but the romantic lead. We are invested in HIS journey now. We care about whether or not HE gets what he wants. Another essential thing for a romantic comedy. We’ve been on board with what Lucy wants the whole time … but now we need to give a shit about BOTH. And we do. Pullman plays cards – talking to his unresponsible brother: “He is staying in with a pair! Impressive!” etc. And then he has what could be a very contrived moment, but in Pullman’s hands – it’s effective, and moving. There’s a long continuous shot of him – as he tells about one of his memories from childhood involving his brother – he’s opening up – we are finally seeing what this man is THINKING – again, it’s contrived: but it’s perfect.

Jack is an enigma to everyone. It would make sense that he would share his deepest feelings only to a person who is IN A COMA. It’s played so well – kudos to Bill Pullman. Ben Affleck has a similar moment over his baby’s crib in Jersey Girl which was so embarrassing to watch that the audience started laughing the night I saw it. It’s HARD to have a “private moment” on film – like these – and not have them come off as trite, obvious, or phony. Nothing against Affleck – who I actually like – but the lines he was given were so sappy, so bat-you-about-the-head-and-neck with the message – that it would be very difficult to make that real at ALL. It should have been re-written. Pullman has a similar challenge here … during this one long take, he starts to talk: “Do you remember in 5th grade …” which – you know – it’s hard to make that real. It’s hard to make that sound like normal conversation and not “Here Is the Beginning Of My Deep Monologue Where You Learn About My Tormented Issues”. Pullman plays it casually, humorously, until the very end – when you see something ELSE go on on his face. Meanwhile, the camera is slowly, slowly, moving in for a close-up … When it’s right up against him, when Pullman’s face fills the screen – a realization comes, we can see it all happen – he goes deep, he gets serious – 5 million things happen on his face at once – he is letting us INTO HIS BRAIN. He speaks:

“You are unlucky at cards … but … lucky in love. Member in, like, 5th or 6th grade – I was starting to get really good at poker and going home with lots of lunch money – I got to know the principal’s office really well. He always used to say to me, ‘How come you can’t be more like your brother Peter?’ And you know what? I was all right with that. I had no problems with that. Because I was proud of you. And I was never envious of anything that you had.” Long pause. Now we’re in the close-up. It’s stunning – you can see those words reverberate in his head, you can see him make the realization – he doesn’t overplay it. He is just THINKING. Then he says, admitting it – not just to his brother, but to himself, “Until now.”

What he does in that long pan into the close-up is a phenomenal example of good film acting. That moment would never work like that on stage. It’s completley interior. We are inside this guy’s head. But for film? It’s what needs to happen – and Pullman doesn’t push, doesn’t go overboard … This guy Jack is not a guy who’s comfortable with touchy-feely stuff, he’s more liable to crack a joke, make some snarky remark … This is like his own private journal entry to himself. So so well done.

— Next comes my favorite scene in the film. It’s a family dinner. The whole Callahan family and Lucy sit around at the dinner table. The whole family banters at once – about a million different things – and eventually, Lucy and Jack meet eyes across the table – and there’s this shared moment of humorous eye contact – they both start to LOSE it across the table from one another. Everyone’s talking in the background about Cesar Romero, the mashes potatoes, whether or not actors have to be tall – all at once – it’s a cacophany – and Jack and Lucy, trying to keep up, both just start giggling to themselves, a beautiful moment of connection. Also, Jack’s mother at one point asks Jack, “What’s your type, Jack?” Meaning in women. Jack looks visibly uncomfortable and says bluntly, “Blondes. Chubby ones.” The conversation goes on around the table, topics brought up, thrown away, argued … suddenly the younger sister turns to Jack and says, “But you like brunettes!” HUGE silence. Jack is busted. He glances up briefly at Lucy, who is grinning at him … It’s that awkward goofy shyness that makes him so good as a male lead. He doesn’t tell ALL. Because most people in life do not TELL ALL, especially not when they’re falling in love. When you’re falling in love, you tend to get nuts. You get over-protective of yourself, you diffuse moments when you want them to linger, you lie about your true intentions so you won’t get hurt … etc. It’s a nice moment – the sister busting him in a lie – showing that dynamic. Here’s a slight transcript of some of this dinner table conversation – it’s funny dialogue already, it READS funny on the page … but the way the actors play it makes it just come to life.

Mother: Have you and Peter decided where you want to go on your honeymoon?
Saul: I went to Cuba on my honeymoon.
Grandma: Ricky Ricardo was Cuban.
Mother: Didn’t Peter look great today?
Saul: Oh, that kid. He should have been an actor.
Grandma: He’s tall.
Father: All the great ones were tall.
Mother: Lucy, you think you could find me a nice girl for Jack?
Jack: Oh, Mom. Come on.
Lucy: Well, I really don’t know Jack’s type.
Jack: I like blondes. Chubby ones.
Long uncomfortable pause
Saul: Alan Ladd wasn’t tall.
Father: Marshall Dillon was six foot five.
Mother: Well, we all know who Lucy’s type is! These mashes potatoes are so creamy.
Sister: You like brunettes.
Long uncomfortable pause
Grandma: I could never make a good pot roast.
Saul: You need good beef. Argentina has great beef. Beef and Nazis.
Father: John Wayne was tall.
Saul: Dustin Hoffman was 5’6″.
Father: Would you want to see Dustin Hoffman save the Alamo?
Mother: These mashed potatoes are so creamy.
Saul: Spain has good beef.
Mother: Mary mashed them.
Saul: Cesar Romero was tall.
Grandma: Cesar Romero was not Spanish!
Saul: I didn’t say Cesar Romero was Spanish.
Grandma: Well, what did you say?
Saul: I said, Cesar Romero was tall.
Grandma: We all know he’s tall.
Saul: Well, that’s what I said. Cesar Romero was tall. That’s all I said.

Genius. That’s a greatly written scene.

— When Lucy leaves the house that night after the party, Jack stands at the door and watches her go. You are starting to feel that things are really heating up for him. He’s kind of in trouble, as far as Lucy goes. He’s thinking about her too much. He’s … in trouble. Again: no lines needed. It’s all on Pullman’s face.

— Through a silly contrived misunderstanding – the little sister believes that Lucy is pregnant and she blurts it out to the whole family. “Lucy’s pregnant!!” The family starts to freak – “What? How do you know??” There’s a brief shot of Jack that I really like – hard to describe – it’s very short – uhm, here’s the moment:

He takes the information in – and suddenly, turns and leaves the house abruptly.

— Of course he comes to find Lucy and talk to her. He’s had it. He’s in trouble. He knows it. Meanwhile, Lucy is getting ready to go to her friend Celeste’s New Year’s Eve party. She carries a bottle of champagne, comes out of her house and starts off down the sidewalk – only to find that Jack is standing there, by his truck, kind of walking back and forth, and talking to himself. Obviously rehearsing what he wants to say to her. hahahaha It’s such a Bill PUllman moment. The GOOFBALL coming out. He ends up following her to the party, trying to get her to talk about her pregnancy. Of course she – who is NOT pregnant – has no idea what is up with him and why he is acting so strangely. They arrive at the party – Pullman is mistaken for her “fiance” – he keeps trying to explain himself – and then he sees Lucy chugging spiked punch at the refreshment table. hahahaha He rushes over to her, a man on a mission, and informs her, urgently: “That’s spiked.” Lucy chugs down another gulp, and says, her mouth full, “Thank God.” Jack, concerned, says explicitly, “You shouldn’t have any!” Lucy says, “Why not?” Of course, at this very moment, the loud music dies out, so Jack shouts into the silence, “Because it’s not good for the baby!!” You can see all of Lucy’s co-works kind of freeze, and stare over at the “couple”, like … what???? For some reason, as silly as this little exchange is, it is completely satisfying to me because both of them are playing their moments so seriously. He TRULY believes she is pregnant. She should NOT be downing alcohol at such an alarming rate. She has NO idea why he is suddenly all over her, and acting all paternal and annoying … she needs a DRINK, dammit – get off my back! It’s very funny.

— Then we see the two of them walking back to her place after the party. He has now realized it is a misunderstanding – he tries to apologize, explain – she is charging along the sidewalk like a maniac – he begs her to slow down … He is literally running to keep up with her. They stand outside her apartment and have a conversation – that gets startlingly romantic for about 2 seconds – and then it turns into a fight. Ah yes. I know those kinds of nights, too.

The scene has so many ups and downs to it that – again, it feels real. This happens in life. Normal conversations turn on a dime. A small thing happens that cuts her to the core – and suddenly she has to walk away. Which puts him in the position of chasing after her. Now he’s lost his cool completely. He’s vulnerable. They have it OUT. Great scene. One of my favorite moments during their fight is when suddenly he is confronted, for the first time, with her insecurity about herself. She says to him, “Why did you think I was pregnant?” He says, “Well, Mary heard something … I don’t know … I had no reason to not believe her …” Her face gets kind of hard, bitter, and she says, “You mean, the only reason Peter would marry someone like me is if I were pregnant.” You can see him be totally taken aback by this – he doesn’t even know what she’s TALKING about – “No!” There’s a lot going on here: First, he hurt her without meaning to. Second, he thinks she’s basically the catch of the century – he’s fucking in love with her … so he is baffled by her own self-destructive comment. “What? No!!” He can’t even understand why she would say that – because he thinks she’s so awesome, and he’s jealous of his brother for scoring her. Those moments happen all the time in love – we see our beloved in the best light possible – and so to hear that they might not regard themselves so highly is just … strange. Window-Boy and I had moments like that all the time. I always considered him to be literally THE SEXIEST MAN IN CHICAGO … and there were times when I would be like: “Uhm … why is he with me??” Did not get it. Eventually I got it – and stopped being insecure – but at the beginning, I was kind of a lunatic about all of it. So I would make some derogatory remark about myself, or about how my ass was fatter than that girl’s over there … I’d nudge him gleefully, and say, “See that girl’s ass over there? Isn’t it great??” hahaha Trying to say what he was thinking before he could even think it. He would look at the other girl’s ass, look at mine, and just give me this silent look of either exhaustion, scorn, or confusion. hahahaha He didn’t judge me for being insecure – he had enough experience with women to know that insecurity about one’s ass size is pretty much a universal … but at first I just couldn’t see myself the way he saw me. (And that’s probably a good thing – because if I saw myself the way he saw me then that would mean I had a GIANT EGO) But he would get confused when I would be insecure. That was his main response to my insecurity. Confusion. How can she think she’s ugly when I think she’s pretty? How does THAT work?? So Bill Pullman has that whole taken aback thing down pat. How can she think that she would be unworthy of marriage? Or unworthy of some guy choosing her? How can she think that??

— Meanwhile – in the hospital – we see the staff celebrating Happy New Year … then there is a long slow pan into Peter’s room. We see him in a coma. Then … suddenly … his eyes open. So. Now we know things are about to get really nuts.

— The entire family huddles around the bed. Peter stares around at each of them, smiling at the fact that he is alive … happy to see his family again … his eyes rest on Lucy. His face goes blank. He asks, “Who are you?” It is immediately decided that he has amnesia – of a very LOCALIZED variety. Saul pulls Lucy aside – who is, of course, freaking out. Saul tells her not to worry – that he will tell the family her story – he’ll “take care of it”. “I’m too old of a friend and too old of a person for them to kill.” Peter, meanwhile, is freaking out because he apparently has amnesia. A nurse comes in to give him jello. Peter looks up at his mother in a panic: “Do I like jello?”

hahahahahaha I love this script.

— Okay. So onward. Uhm … I’M having fun doing this. I don’t know about YOU all. I need to do this more often!!! Of course it’s taken me two damn weeks to do this. I watch a scene a day and then write up my thoughts. Honestly. This is my life. But I guess if I’m happy, who should give a crap??

— Next scene. Well. This scene brings a lump to my throat. I admit it. This is what I mean when I say I think this film WORKS on the level it needs to work. It sneaks up on you. Suddenly, I find myself giving a crap about these two people. I just want them to be together. Selfishly, I want to see them kiss each other. I want them to hook up. And … in this scene – now that Peter has woken up … they are sort of gently saying goodbye to each other, without really saying what they mean. And you get the sense of the real loneliness of these two … that they are both odd people, essentially. They are not easy matches, they are not “for” everybody. She’s not a girlie-girl, she’s awkward, she’s got a great sense of humor, and she’s got an underlying sadness which could potentially frighten anyone off. He takes no bullshit, tolerates no dishonesty, and could actually be kind of a prick if you try to pull any gamey kind of shit with him. They’re ODD. And yet – when they are with each other – they seem comfortable, they seem relaxed. He “gets” her. She finds him funny, and jokes him out of his seriousness. Jack drives Lucy back from the hospital and they sit outside for a while, in his truck, talking. Lucy says – knowing that eventually, in the next couple of days, she is going to have to come clean – and the entire family will soon realize that she has been LYING to them – and infiltrating their lives – all based on a LIE … she knows that this will probably be unfogivable to Jack. He jumped all over her when she assumed to know something about his family – his family is everything to him – and she has just been, basically, scamming them … He will not forgive that. So she knows this. She says to him, seriously – “Jack … things are … probably gonna be a little bit different from now on …” She means that the truth will come out, but Jack of course thinks she means: Now that my FIANCE is awake, I’ll have to spend all my time with HIM rather than with YOU … He’s practically wincing thru the whole scene. He can’t stand this. But he’s also too much of a proud man to wear his heart on his sleeve. He puts up a good front. He lets her go. He doesn’t become a sniveling wimp, he doesn’t declare his love … He just eats it. He eats the pain of watching her walk away. Like I said – there’s something about this scene that makes me want to cry. It’s the softness and openness in her face when she tells him honestly what a good friend he has become to her. You know it’s true. You know it’s true because you know the loneliness of her life before she met him. There is so much emotion under her simple words. She holds it together though, too. She has too much pride to fall apart, or to blurt out the truth, or to say, “But I want you!!!” She goes to get out of the car – and he stops her and says the killer line: “Lucy … I didn’t mean what I said earlier. About you and Peter … I think you’re going to make a terrific couple … and … I’m really happy … that you won’t be alone anymore.” Argh – putting it into cold type like that makes it sound really sappy, and maybe it is sappy, but Pullman doesnt’ PLAY it sappy. He plays it like a real MAN. Despite the fact that he’s in love with her, he – in that moment – lets her know that he wishes the best for her. And it’s also proof that … unlike everyone else in her life, who kind of accepts in a blase way, “Oh, yeah, whatever, Lucy doesn’t have a family … so of course she can work on Christmas Day … of course she’ll always be available to me … whatever …” Jack actually feels sad for her, and wishes to end her loneliness. He wants her to be happy. Now I know from my own experience in life and in love … that when someone you are in love with who you can’t be with wishes you well, and MEANS IT??? – it is one of the most important and wrenching and life-affirming moments that one can have. It’s awful. But it’s amazing. And it’s also very very rare. This is what he does in that moment. And as much as it kills him, he MEANS it. It brings a lump to my throat every time. It’s so sincere. And it’s not easy for him. But he does it anyway. He’s a true MAN. He’s a grown-up. It’s killer. It’s so powerful. Good work there, dude. Good work.

— The next scene is a quiet little scene in Jack’s world – where the subplot of his own desire to leave the family business is resolved. The movie is smart. This subplot is not ANNOYING like so many subplots are in movies like this … This goes towards establishing his character, and establishing as a man that we ROOT for. He’s not just a “lover”. He’s not just the “love interest”. He’s a person with other goals, aspirations, dreams … Yes, he wants Lucy … but he also wants to start his own business. And he’s kind of tormented about hurting his father by ‘rejecting’ the family business. Family is so important to this man. It’s everything. But in terms of what he had gone through in the last week – meeting Lucy, having all of his neat little chess pieces overturned by her – this unexpected and kind of unwelcome and inconvenient love – has changed him. He, in his heart, wants her to USE HER PASSPORT. He is invested in HER dreams. Again – none of this is really done in dialogue – but you get it. He can’t stand the thought of Lucy, this fabulous funny pretty sad woman, walking around with an unused passport in her bag. He can’t stand the thought of her not being happy. And so maybe all of that has made him look at his OWN life … and made him look at his OWN unrealized dreams … and finally forces him to come to his father and say, “Look, dad … I need to go out on my own now.” There’s a synergistic thing happening there. Jack comes to the family house early in the morning with a box of Dunkin Donuts. His father, Peter Boyle, sits at the table – they shoot the shit … Jack obviously has something he wants to say and he finally comes out and says it. Pullman plays this all so WELL. He, in the scene with Lucy, is a MAN, a grown-up … but of course it’s different with your family. You’re still a kid, sometimes, when you go home. It takes his father a while to realize what is actually happening, and finally Boyle says, “Wait a minute … You don’t want my business?” Now, perhaps the answer that would be EXPECTED … would be something like: “It’s not that I don’t WANT your business, Dad … it’s not that I don’t appreciate everything you have created … It’s that I need to do my own thing now!” Which would be a perfectly good answer. But for Jack … that answer is not true. It’s not the full truth. And now – he really has to make the break. And he has to tell his father the whole truth. And watch Bill Pullman’s face during the pause after his father’s question – watch what he goes through – the transitions – the hesitancy … It’s not that Pullman is telegraphing anything. He never panders to the audience, he never says: “HERE. This is what I’m thinking! See it??? Ya see it??” No. He is a movie actor. A good one. He just THINKS something … and we see it. I LOVE this long moment where Pullman decides whether or not to tell his father the whole truth … and finally he says, “No, Dad. I don’t.” He says it with kindness, but he says it truthfully. “No Dad. I don’t want your business. I really don’t.” And in THAT moment – he truly becomes a fully grown-up person. He doesn’t sugar coat it. He says, “No, Dad. I don’t want it.” He’s not saying, “It’s a worthless business, I want no part of it …” He’s saying, “It’s not for me.” Boyle does a great job in this scene, too. Yes, it’s a subplot but for me it is not a distraction at all. Because by this point in the film, it’s not just Lucy I care about. It’s Jack as well. It makes a huge difference in the film – to give a shit about BOTH of them getting what they want. Lovely scene. Good work – both of them.

— Next we’re in the hospital again. The family (sans Jack, and sans Lucy) hover around Peter, trying to make him remember Lucy. His mother, handing him a cup with a straw in it: “You love her.” I LOVE that actress. I wish I could write her a letter and let her know. There are so many unsung GOOD people working out there … and she’s one of them. Whoever you are, woman – you’re a comedic master and a wonderfully warm actress, and I wish I saw you in every goldurn movie that was made … I wish there was still a studio system, in a way, that kept these character actors working ALL THE TIME. If you watch the movies from the 30s and 40s – the SAME ACTORS are in all the bit parts. Great feckin’ character actors – who worked and worked and worked and worked … Audiences got to know them, expect their presence, recognize them – they felt a familiarity with these actors – Perhaps this actor only did one thing (crotchety old men parts, or uptight spinster parts, whatever) but they CORNERED the market in these types of parts, and … that just doesn’t exist anymore. Character actors have an easier time, sometimes, than stars – they work more often, they get better parts … but actresses like this mother in While You Were Sleeping – a blowsy overweight WARM woman in her 50s … there just aren’t that many parts for people like her. And it’s a shame. This actress is terrific. I applaud her from the sidelines.

— Saul gets a moment alone with Peter. He’s the Jewish godfather. He gives him a talking-to. “Peter, you’re a putz.” Poor Peter. He doesn’t know what is going on. He has been told he has amnesia (but he DOESN’T) … he has been told that he is engaged to this strange woman that he KNOWS he hasn’t seen before … he’s out of it. Saul is supposed to tell Peter the truth – that Lucy has MADE UP the engagement … but at the last minute Saul chickens out (this is a running gag. He tells Lucy, calmly, “Don’t worry … I’ll take care of it …” and then literally SNEAKS away during an opportune moment … he’s a chicken …) Anyway – instead of telling Peter the truth, he goes another route and says, “Listen, here’s the deal … you’re my godson and I love you … but you’re a putz, and I need to tell you something … Lucy. Lucy. She’s coming to see you today and I want you to look in her eyes – and I want you to realize that you are a man who is being given a second chance …and when she comes here today – I want you to really look deeply in her eyes – and if after 2 minutes you are not as in love with her as the rest of us are … then you’re a putz. But if after 2 minutes you see what we all see – then you will propose to her a second time immediately. Don’t let her get away.”

Saul kind of caved in the pressure of the moment. He didn’t say what he NEEDED to say and he also had no idea that JACK AND LUCY ARE IN LOVE. He was trying to save his godson!! He sees that Lucy is special, and that Peter is a putz, and the woman he’s engaged to at the moment (a bitch named Ashley who keeps leaving perturbed messages on his answering machine, saying, “Well … I’ve thought it over and … yes. I will marry you.” 2 days later, a message: “Uhm … I’m kind of surprised you didn’t call me back …” 2 days later: “Wow. You are so not calling me back. I’m coming back into town and I want. to see. my cat.” She sounds like a bitch, frankly, and the rest of the family talk about her like she’s a bitch. Only they don’t say “bitch”, they say “high and mighty”. Of COURSE Peter would be with a “high and mighty” woman because he’s all about social STATUS. And of COURSE Peter would propose to a “high and mighty” woman because he’s a putz!! So Saul gives Peter his advice: look closely at Lucy. Really look at her. Propose to her. Trust me. You won’t be sorry. Saul says, as he leaves the room, “You know … if I were 40 years younger, I’d marry her myself.”

— Next scene – we see Lucy entering Peter’s hospital room. Lucy is completely unaware of what Saul has said. As a matter of fact, Lucy has been counting on Saul to “take care” of things and tell the truth. So she shows up … and Peter takes Saul advice. Instead of treating Lucy like some freaky woman in a billowing black trenchcoat that he has NEVER SEEN … he actually asks her questions, listens to her answers, tries to engage her. Of course, it’s a relatively shallow conversation – because Peter is a self-centered putz … but he is definitely TRYING. He asks her to sit down. She does. They talk. She’s so damn sweet. It’s a smart scene – because Sandra Bullock plays it just like her normal likable self, but we suddenly see her … we see her beauty, her humor, her … warmth … her humanity … because Peter the Putz is DECIDING to see all of that. At one point, she comes clean – “You give up your seat every day on the train.” This MEANS something to her. Behavior like that means something about someone’s character. The scene ends unresolved.

— Now we see the high-and-mighty Ashley bitch (played by the actress who played the female lead in Happy Texas as well as the lead in the short-lived television series The Profiler) arrive at Peter’s apartment and demand entry from the doorman. The poor confused doorman insists that someone ELSE is Peter’s fiance … Ashley is OUTRAGED.

— Peter and Jack are in the hospital, and Jack is wheeling Peter around in a wheelchair. Pullman is visibly irritated. Not by anything in particular but by life in general, and by the fact that his brother is now awake and is going to be marrying Lucy. He has ZERO tolerance for any of his brother’s waffling at the moment. Peter blurts out to his brother, “I have never been faithful to a woman.” You can see Pullman holding himself back, not SAYING what he wants to say … but you can see it just EATS at him. Everyone in the family loves Peter – of course – but they all know he’s a putz. Jack does too. And this putz has won Lucy’s heart and that just fucking SUCKS. It takes all of Pullman’s energy to not say any of this. Peter is trying to see the good in Lucy … and he starts to rhapsodize: “I don’t know what it is about her … but … but … but … she’s really special … I don’t know what it is …” (Yeah. That’s cause you’re shallow, putz.) Jack then sort of loses his cool, yet again, and says, “Yeah. She gets under your skin, right? So much so that you don’t know whether to hug her or arm-wrestle her.” If that doesn’t describe the charm and likability of Sandra Bullock herself – I don’t know what does. And I love how Pullman just loses himself in that … he doesn’t know what he’s going to say before he says it, he’s lost in it … suddenly he tries to describe Lucy … and that’s what comes out. The guy is in a serious sad-sack situation here!! He’s losin’ it!

— Ashley has found out that Peter is now engaged and she shows up at the hospital in a Medean fury. She bursts in on him. “You’re engaged???” Peter smiles a goopy putz-y smile. “Yes.” She spits fire at him. “Might I remind you that you were engaged to me??” He says helplessly, “You said no!” She spits fire at him again: “I was confused! We took a step back!” He says, “You moved to Portugal!!!” (Again, with the wit of the script.)

— Ashley storms out and moments later Lucy arrives. We’re uppin’ the slapstick potential here. Peter has now made up his mind. He must have Lucy since his family thinks so highly of her. He must have her. (The dude is a putz, what can you say.) “I have a lucrative stock portfolio … but I have no one to trust, and … well … my family loves you … so I might as well love you! … Will you marry me?”

— Cut to Lucy in her apartment trying on her wedding dress. Omigod, she’s gonna do it!!! Knock on the door. She opens it … and there’s Jack. She invites him in. He comes in … and you see his eyes glance around, taking in her place. Another good example of a good actor moment. It’s details like that that so many actors miss. They forget the actual CIRCUMSTANCE of the scene – and only play the emotions of it. No, no, no, that’s bad acting!! The circumstance of the scene is that Jack has never been in her apartment …and that, of course, when you’re in love with someone, it is FASCINATING to see where they live … how they decorate, it says a lot about who people are … Pullman just does a quick look around, but it’s enough. It does the job. It doesn’t just tell us who, and what, and why … it tells us WHERE. He’s not been here before. Details, details. Jack hands her a gift – “I wanted to give you this before all the craziness …:” She hesitates – she takes it … she opens it … it’s a snow-globe with the city of Florence in it. It’s an incredible moment. Silent. I mean … Jeez, if you were her, what would you do? This guy … this guy … this guy GIVES A SHIT. He LISTENS. She stares at the snow falling on Florence, and she says, “Thanks.” Afterwards – hemming, hawing, not saying what they mean … Jack finally says, “Peter is a very lucky guy.” Lucy – knowing, in her heart, that the whole thing is kind of false – and doesn’t hold a candle to what she felt for Jack, kind of laughs, and says, “Thank you.” A potent moment of nothingness between them. Then Jack turns abruptly, saying, “I better go.” And he basically FLEES THE SCENE before he jumps like an animal on the future wife of his brother – while she is in her wedding dress!!! She chases him out into the hallway, calling, “Jack??”

— Closeup on Pullman, turning around. In this moment – he again loses his cool, loses his grown-up “hey, good luck to you” stance … and suddenly – for a split second – there’s this urgent hopefulness on his face. Gives you goosebumps to see it. I have had that look on my face before. A jolt of adrenaline, of hope, of lust … He thinks she might be about to say … something … that might just change his life … Beautiful moment. Really open and vulnerable. Bullock stands there in the stairwell, and says, “Can you give me any reason why I shouldn’t marry your brother?” He is very taken aback by the question. And – even though every cell of body is screaming: “YES! YOU SHOULDN’T MARRY HIM BECAUSE …” … he restrains himself … and says, “I can’t.” But it hurts. Another great moment played by Pullman. You like this Jack person. Even though for the plot’s purpose – he has to be self-sacrificial, it works in the context of the character. He loves his family, he loves his brother, and he loves Lucy. He lets her go. It’s all very Casablanca-ish – only without Nazis and tormented refugees.

— Wedding day. The wedding is in the chapel at the hospital. Peter stands at the altar, in his pajamas, with a suit coat over it … and a friggin’ IV stand next to him. It’s ludicrous. Everyone is tense because Lucy has not shown up yet. Jack is the best man – and he is now not just irritated with his brother, but in a rag at him. “What’s the matter with you, Jack?” says Peter. Pullman looks at his brother, takes him in, and states flatly, “You suck.” Finally, Lucy shows up. In her wedding dress with the trench coat on over it. The ceremony begins immediately. Uhm – surreal?? Glynis Johns beaming in the seats, Lucy’s miserable face as she walks down the aisle, Peter’s terrified expression watching the bride HE DOESN’T KNOW come towards him, Jack’s glowering face, the mother’s tremulous beaming expression from the front row … the IV stand … It’s ludicrous. Lucy makes it all the way to the front … and then – of course – at the last moment – she comes clean. In front of everybody. Makes a big speech telling all. Much shock. Grandma takes photos of everyone’s shocked faces. hahahaha I love Glynis Johns. Bill Pullman has a couple of key reaction shots here – There’s one of him kinda just stunned, staring at Lucy talking … one where he’s running his hands through his hair like a maniac …

— And one or two words about Sandra Bullock. I have always liked her. She kicks some serious ASS in this monologue. Watch her. If you think I’m kidding, rent this movie – watch it – and watch her do this monologue again. It’s the kind of thing like this: when she gets tears in her eyes, I get tears in my eyes. When she gets choked up, I get choked up. With some other actresses, this doesn’t happen, you know – because tears come cheap, and tears mean different things. Actresses can have some pretty self-serving tears. (And actors too, I suppose – only actors don’t have to cry quite so much as actresses). But you know how you sometimes see a scene and some actress is crying – and it’s real – for her, anyway – and tears are streaming down her face, and snot is running out of her nose … and it’s all very REAL – but you, the audience member, remain unmoved? Sandra Bullock NEVER has that. She’s kind of a simple actress- and I mean that in absolutely the best way. She has very little ego, she has good technique, and she understands what the scene needs. She’s not trying to show us: “oooh, look what a great actress I am – look at the tears on my face!” If I see tears like that, my response is that of a cold stone. Not with Ms. Bullock! Because it’s real. When she takes a shivery breath in her throat, trying to hold back the tears – I feel it.

— Great work, Sandra. So then Ashley busts in to object to the wedding. And all hell breaks loose. The whole family starts arguing, everyone’s talking at once, shouting, accusing … Lucy sneaks out quietly, grabbing her dad’s coat from the seat in the back … One thing that I just have to point out: Glynis Johns, as the grandmother, has a camera with one of those tall teetery flash columns attached to it – member that? You would have the camera, and then buy the flash thing and attach it to the top? She has one of those. So we get a long shot of the entire family gathering around Peter and Ashley up by the altar, and everyone is shouting and carrying on – and you see Grandma walk up, in her pink wool suit, and pink hat – and take out her camera and take a photo of the pandemonium. I laugh out loud every time I see that moment. Look for it next time you see it!! It just makes me laugh – everyone is so careful around Grandma, they’re afraid that any emotional turmoil will make her have an instant heart attack – and there she is taking PICTURES of family brawls. Hysterical. I LOVE GLYNIS JOHNS.

— A sad Lucy sits in her token booth. We learn it’s her last day. Hmmm … where is she going? What? Will she go to Florence finally?? Then … suddenly … instead of a token coming under the window, a small diamond ring comes. She sees it – and looks up – startled.

And there is the entire Callahan family staring at her.

— I need you to take a close look at every one of those faces. How on earth could you resist them? LOOK at Glynis Johns!!! And look at the mother – in the middle of the glass. Look at her. Every single face in that shot is a great example of not waiting for your damn close-up to ACT. Everyone is so ALIVE. You get every character just by looking at them. Look at that mother. hahahaha Hell, I’d marry a total fuckin’ jagoff if he was a member of THAT family!!

They love Lucy so much!

So of course … Jack – who is now smouldering with passion – in … that Cary Grant bumbling-professor way – comes into the token booth – and proposes marriage. Naturally, and simply, she says yes. FINALLY!!

It’s one of those rare romances where the people getting together actually MEANS something to me. Like Say Anything MEANS something to me. Those two people. They’re real to me, and I’m happy they’re together. Philadelphia Story. Tracy and CK Dexter Haven. It makes me HAPPY to think of the two of those people together. They MATTER to me.

It’s a romantic comedy that EARNS its happy ending – as opposed to assuming it is a foregone conclusion. It’s like life. It’s like real life.

Bill Pullman – one of the most appealing -and least used – leading men I have ever seen.