Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #664 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-09-25
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Hindi, Portuguese, Turkish, Danish, Icelandic, Swedish, Hungarian, Polish, Dutch, Arabic, Finnish, Czech, Greek
• Dubbed in: German, Italian, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 101 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The director and stars of 1998's You've Got Mail scored a breakthrough hit with this hugely popular romantic comedy from 1993, about a recently engaged woman (Meg Ryan) who hears the sad story of a grieving widower (Tom Hanks) on the radio and believes that they are destined to be together. She's single in New York, he lives in Seattle with a young son, but the cross-country attraction proves irresistible and pretty soon Meg's on a westbound flight. What happens from there is... well, you must have been living in a cave to have let this sweet-hearted comedy slip below your pop-cultural radar. There's little complexity or depth to writer-director Nora Ephron's cheesy tale of a romantic fait accompli, and more than a little contrivance to the subplots that threaten to keep Hanks and Ryan from actually meeting. But the purity of star chemistry here is hard to deny, and this may be the first film to indicate the more serious and sympathetic side of Hanks that is revealed in later roles. With its clever jokes about "chick movies" and repeated homage to the classic weeper An Affair to Remember, this may not be everybody's brand of amorous entertainment, but it's got an old-Hollywood charm that appeals to many a movie fan. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

Special Features
1.85 Wide Screen
DVD 9
French\German\Italian\Spanish
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital Surround English
Dolby Digital Surround

Synopsis
Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks) is a good father and a successful architect, but also a lonely widower. One night his precocious 8-year-old son Jonah calls a late-night radio talk show seeking a cure for his father's despondency. When Sam hesitantly takes the phone and discloses the story of his magic-filled marriage, he proves to be a deeply feeling and gentle man. His plight profoundly moves the programme's sympathetic female listeners, and thousands of women write in offering to help him 'recover' from his mournful insomnia. Recently betrothed Annie Reed (Meg Ryan) is one of the many listeners touched by Sam's story. To complicate matters, she's afraid her upcoming marriage promises stability and security but no excitement. Although Annie's supposed to be driving to her future in-laws' house for the holidays, she knows that she's already fallen in love with Sam and is on the road to destiny. She treks across country on a wildly romantic impulse to meet him...

Customer Reviews

Good natured romantic drama
Tom Hanks (Big) stars as Sam, a single parent. A year after losing his wife, he is struggling with the loss and to help him, his son Jonah phones a radio station to ask for advice, and Annie from Baltimore hears and knows she must meet up with Sam.

Filled with plenty of romantic conventions, Nora Ephron's 1993 romantic drama creates a light hearted feel good film, with funny and dramatic moments for viewers of all ages.

Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan (When Harry met Sally), in their first collaboration, are perfect in their respective role, especially Ryan who is very funny, where as Hanks takes the more serious roles, which he is always perfect at.

But the actor who steals the show is Ross Maligner, who is exceptional as Sam's son Jonah, a cheeky 8 year old kid who has plenty on his mind, and a temper and encouragement to match. His smart remarks about Victoria are pure genius, helped along by some classic facial expressions to make him the star of the film.

Though completely unrealistic, this romantic drama generates a healthy plot with the ideology about finding the right person, which is enough to keep the mood alive. The difficulty in the character's lives is good to generate the concept of the right person, with Sam and his lost wife, and Annie and her bizarre fiancé.

The lack of realism happens with a cheesy saying the same words, meeting at the same time, or just in time, an 8 year old girl hacking into a computer and an 8 year old kid getting on a plane all the way to New York.

The lack of realism can take the edge of the plot, depending on how you look at it. For me, the humour and the likability of the characters was enough to let it slip.

It is a very character driven film, helped along by the concept of finding the right person, to make an enjoyable and funny romantic drama.

8/10

The disc is rubbish
Superb acting but the disc supplied by Indigostarfish is crap I am a collector and expect reliable stock material

WARM GLOW ALL OVER
It sounded like a 'chick flick' but i loved it. It was a pleasant break from death and destruction.

'Nice' storyline and good chemistry between Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks (almost as good as Billy Crystal/Meg Ryan in When Harry met Sally).
Right up there with the best of this genre.