Even though I'm not the biggest fan of romantic comedies, I do like to watch one occasionally. As long as they are at least somewhat original - which sometimes seems harder to find than you would like to believe - I really can have a good time with them. But for some reason I feared that this movie wouldn't belong to that category and that's why it took me almost ten years to finally watch it. Now that I did, I know that I shouldn't have waited that long.
Lucy is already in love with Peter for a very long time. The only problem is that she has never really spoken to him and that he probably doesn't even know of her existence. He's a commuter to who she sells a ticket for the metro every day. When on Christmas Day he's attacked by some muggers, he falls on the rails and lies there unconscious. Lucy doesn't hesitate, but immediately goes after him and saves him from the oncoming train. Then he goes into a coma and is transported to hospital. And that's where all the problems start. The hospital staff confuses her for his fiancée, which they also tell to his family. They immediately welcome her into the family and Lucy, who isn't used to so much family happiness and warmth, isn't able to tell them that she and Peter haven't got a relationship. To make things even more complicated for her, Peter's brother falls in love with her and when Peter himself wakes up, he too believes that she is his fiancée...
Even though the story feels a bit like all other romantic comedies, I must say that I like the new approach of a man in coma as the subject of affection. Even though he plays a very important role in this movie, his performance only consists of lying there with his eyes closed. And somehow that feels more OK than seeing yet another clumsy guy who is able to win the heart of the woman of his dreams. But not only the story is OK, so is the acting. Sandra Bullock, Jack Warden, Bill Pullman,... were nice to watch and even though Peter Gallagher didn't really have a difficult part, he too did a good job.
I guess the only 'problem' that I had with this movie was that it was situated during Christmas time, while I saw it in the beginning of September. I'm not saying that I wasn't able to get completely involved in it, but somehow it felt a bit weird to see snow and to see them decorate the Christmas tree. That's also the reason why I believe that this is a perfect movie to play in that time period instead of THE Christmas classic: "The Sound of Music". You're already completely in the right mood then and I'm sure that such a movie would only add to that perfect feeling of family happiness. But than again, it's not that you can't watch this movie on another day either.
All in all this is one of the better romantic comedies that I've seen lately. I had some good laughs with it, the romance was a bit weird but believable, the acting was good and the story original. What more can you expect from such a movie. Not much if you ask me and that's why I give it a well-deserved 7/10.
Lucy is already in love with Peter for a very long time. The only problem is that she has never really spoken to him and that he probably doesn't even know of her existence. He's a commuter to who she sells a ticket for the metro every day. When on Christmas Day he's attacked by some muggers, he falls on the rails and lies there unconscious. Lucy doesn't hesitate, but immediately goes after him and saves him from the oncoming train. Then he goes into a coma and is transported to hospital. And that's where all the problems start. The hospital staff confuses her for his fiancée, which they also tell to his family. They immediately welcome her into the family and Lucy, who isn't used to so much family happiness and warmth, isn't able to tell them that she and Peter haven't got a relationship. To make things even more complicated for her, Peter's brother falls in love with her and when Peter himself wakes up, he too believes that she is his fiancée...
Even though the story feels a bit like all other romantic comedies, I must say that I like the new approach of a man in coma as the subject of affection. Even though he plays a very important role in this movie, his performance only consists of lying there with his eyes closed. And somehow that feels more OK than seeing yet another clumsy guy who is able to win the heart of the woman of his dreams. But not only the story is OK, so is the acting. Sandra Bullock, Jack Warden, Bill Pullman,... were nice to watch and even though Peter Gallagher didn't really have a difficult part, he too did a good job.
I guess the only 'problem' that I had with this movie was that it was situated during Christmas time, while I saw it in the beginning of September. I'm not saying that I wasn't able to get completely involved in it, but somehow it felt a bit weird to see snow and to see them decorate the Christmas tree. That's also the reason why I believe that this is a perfect movie to play in that time period instead of THE Christmas classic: "The Sound of Music". You're already completely in the right mood then and I'm sure that such a movie would only add to that perfect feeling of family happiness. But than again, it's not that you can't watch this movie on another day either.
All in all this is one of the better romantic comedies that I've seen lately. I had some good laughs with it, the romance was a bit weird but believable, the acting was good and the story original. What more can you expect from such a movie. Not much if you ask me and that's why I give it a well-deserved 7/10.