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While You Were Sleeping
Metascore
67 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
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  1. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Christopher Harris
    100
    But Turteltaub surprises us. He has the kind of unerring comic touch - easily able to carry his audience from smart dialogue to heart-tugging emotion to something awfully close to slapstick - that should serve the movie world well.
  2. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Elvis Mitchell
    90
    This is a formula film, but it has the kind of good cheer and fine tuning that occasionally give slickness a good name.
  3. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Schickel
    90
    What is startling is how well While You Were Sleeping recaptures the true spirit of the best kind of modern fairy tale -- classic romantic comedy.
  4. Empire
    Reviewed by: Staff(not credited)
    80
    Bullock is a delight, disarmingly kooky, pleasing to look at, and - as she has previously proved - a gifted comedic actress.
  5. Newsweek
    Reviewed by: Jeff Giles
    80
    The film delivers the warm fuzzies without apology, and you find yourself giving in.
  6. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: Anthony Lane
    80
    The required resolution is a long time in coming, but there's plenty to keep you diverted, including the light backchat among the semi-weirdos who make up the brothers' family, and Bullock's ridiculously watchable performance.
  7. The New Republic
    Reviewed by: Stanley Kauffmann
    80
    The chief reason that we feel generous toward the film is Bullock herself. She tickles. All the others are good, especially Pullman and Gallagher, but she's the one we want to spend time with. [22 May 1995, Pg.28]
    All this critic's reviews
  8. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    75
    It's a feel-good film, warm and good-hearted, and as it was heading for its happy ending, I was still a little astonished how much I was enjoying it.
  9. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Peter Stack
    75
    It's a feel-good deal you can take the whole family to, or even better, a date. And this almost cuddly film, built on a farfetched case of mistaken identity, delivers plenty of fun.
  10. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Staff(not credited)
    75
    While You Were Sleeping is a mild romantic comedy rooted in class anxiety, but it's nice to see perennial loser-in-love Pullman ("Sleepless in Seattle", "The Last Seduction") get some. Respect, that is.
  11. Variety
    Reviewed by: Leonard Klady
    70
    Director Jon Turteltaub has a smooth style suited to classic farce and knows just how to pace the material to accentuate the positive.
  12. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    67
    Only when you look closer do you realize that While You Were Sleeping exhibits precious few genuine feelings. It's a movie cranked out by machine, about supposedly delightfully idiosyncratic characters who only do what they do because the highly structured plot requires it.
  13. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    63
    The plot runs out of steam just past the one-hour mark and the charade, although necessary to the story, goes on for too long. The ending is, of course, the requisite happy one, but it seems a little anticlimactic.
  14. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    60
    It's a movie about the warm feeling you get when you belong to a family, and, throughout, the thermostat is turned up high.
  15. San Francisco Examiner
    Reviewed by: Barbara Shulgasser
    50
    In general, the script is just slightly above sitcom level, but a few lines, owing to great delivery by terrific actors, raise this a few notches on the comedy scale.
  16. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Susan Wloszczyna
    50
    A romantic comedy has to woo an audience into taking a chance on love. While You Were Sleeping is that kind of sneaky charmer, more riveting than ribbit-ing. [21 Apr 1995, Pg.01.D]
    All this critic's reviews
  17. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    50
    It's charming, in its own little way, but really, this film has as much substance as a Cirrus cloud, despite fine turns from Boyle as the family patriarch and Warden as Godfather Saul.
  18. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Hal Hinson
    50
    Its attitude seems to be: You met her and liked her in "Speed," now get to know her better. But while it's easy to like her, liking the movie is another matter.
  19. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Kevin McManus
    40
    A wobbly romantic comedy, Sleeping plays its romantic elements just right, but badly botches the comedy.
  20. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    40
    The plot of this 1995 romantic comedy, directed by Jon Turteltaub ("Cool Runnings") from a script by Daniel G. Sullivan and Fredric Lebow, is pretty stupid throughout, and the filmmakers show no compunction in shaking its silliness in your face, but the film's casual warmth may make you tolerate some of the shortcomings.
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User Reviews

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User Score
9.0 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 10 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. Lopez17
    10
    Jon Turteltaub's "While you were sleeping" has all the trappings and familiar ingredients that make up a standard romantic dramedy it has the all too familiar set up. The girl is in love with the person but he does not notice her or she does not make herself know, something happens and she either is thrust into his life or ends up lying to be close to him. In this case, Lucy Moderatz (Sandra Bullock) lies to the object of her affection (Peter Gallagher) family in order to get close to him and be near when he wakes up. You see Lucy saved Peter Callaghan(the first object of her affection) after he fell on the tracks and is subsequently knocked into a coma they take him to the hospital with her in tow and the case of mistaken identity ensues his family thinking he is Peter's fiancée. If you think this sounds conventional and familiar well then you are wrong the only thing conventional about this picture is the set up to this touching and very deep romance story. At the very center of this film "While you were Sleeping" is the rare romantic dramedy that takes you by surprises not by the fact that you can see what's coming a mile away but by the fact that you did not see it coming makes all the difference. Jon Turtltaub's "While you Were Sleeping" is a film at first I did not expect to like at all it seemed like nothing more than a standard, run of the mill romantic dramedy that would do nothing more than just provide the usual story of a lonely love struck girl getting the man of her dreams. However, after seeing this picture my opinion of this film completely changed I started seeing it for what it is an extremely charming, touching, heartfelt and funny film that is far beyond the standards of Romantic comedy flair. "While you Were Sleeping" is intelligent and daring it is not afraid to show its human side to show how vulnerable its characters as regular people can be. How they easily are hurt, you see in a typical romantic comedy the characters insult each other like there is no tomorrow they hurt one another repeatedly until they finally concludes that this is not how love works in fact it is the exact opposite its called hatred. The characters in this film do not overtly insult each other sure there are moments where they tease one another but for the most part they are a caring bunch of people the most caring would have to be 0x Callaghan(Peter Boyle) who is one of the few Callaghan's that embraces Lucy from the get go. Boyle's character is a sweet yet feisty fellow who is not afraid to defend the ones he loves when needed, that is the key to this films excellence that is what makes it so real, so human, so warm and loving it is the vibrant characters. Without theses colorful cast of characters this film would sink into the low standards the sub genre is recognized. "While You were Sleeping" is a film that can not be missed or ignored it is just too good to be true and to funny and sweet to resist and even though I knew this film was going to have a happy ending, even though I saw where it was headed I still found myself enjoying and loving every single minute of this beautifully drawn film. This film is built from familiar ingredients but this film has such charm and such spirit that no matter how much this film comes off as another rom-com dished out. You will love every single frame and every single minute of this film, the only other thing that saves this film is the magnificent performance from the ever-lovely Sandra Bullock. It is her performance that elevates this film that and the skill of director Jon Turteltaub and his team together they create a film that works better than it should and plays out far better than you could ever expect. The filmmakers do what seldom few directors do in theses films they put a human soul into it, they put real emotions and real feelings into this film that not only affects the mood of the movie but also affects the mood of the audience. If the characters are, arguing and fighting all the time than the audience can become agitated by this and turn there backs on the film. That however, is not the case with this film you feel for the characters you sympathize with the characters you even grow with them as they find there sense o belonging in this world , or in the case of Lucy Moderatz, her sense of belonging. That is what makes a good romantic dramedy and that is why others fail they do not capture the heart and soul the trials ad tribulations that come with the feelings of love. "While you Were Sleeping" hits all the right notes.… Full Review »
  2. EmmeS.
    10
    Strangely enough, my favorite holiday movie. coma-guys quirky family (headed by Peter Boyle) are unforgettable as a solid family unit. I mean that literally too...they seem to always move about as one unit. Perfect chemistry between Sandra and Bill, and I would kill for a chance to actually live out the slippery ice scene.… Full Review »
  3. CatherineO.
    10
    I love this movie! It's a classic romantic comedy.
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