What’s most galling is that she plays along with the family’s attempt to convince Peter that he has selective amnesia after he wakes up from his coma and remembers everyone but Lucy. She befriends his entire family while he’s comatose, basically inserting herself into his life without his knowledge or consent. By assuming the identity of Peter’s fiancée, Lucy gets the reward of a loving and trusting family without having to give that same love and trust in return. As soon as you think for more than one second about the emotional and ethical repercussions of Lucy’s actions, she seems less like a lovable heroine and more like a creep. These tactics only succeed in While You Were Sleeping because the movie is bathed in the glow of a Christmas-themed romantic comedy. And third, it uses Lucy’s lie as a vehicle to bring Peter’s family closer together, which turns Lucy’s lie into an act of charity that does more kindness than harm. Second, it makes it seem like Lucy’s lies are necessary by revealing that Peter’s grandmother has a heart condition that might result in a heart attack if she undergoes any sudden shocks. First, it portrays her as a kind-hearted, but lonely person with no close family or friends. The film tries several tactics to make us sympathize with Lucy. There are several instances in the film where Lucy has a chance to remove herself from the situation without harming anyone further, and yet Lucy keeps coming back to continue the ruse. While at first her pretense is played off as a classic example of miscommunication, her inability to confess, especially as she grows closer and closer to Peter’s family, starts feeling less like a string of cutesy hijinks and more like a sign of deep desperation and moral vacancy. Lucy’s lie is the rotten center that ends up corrupting the whole movie. If Lucy and Jack’s romance is built on a shoddy foundation, the film’s emotional core is even shakier. Despite Lucy meeting the superficial requirements of independence, she is still requires a man’s assistance to achieve her goals. It’s Jack who ends up taking Lucy to Florence on their honeymoon and fulfilling her childhood dream of international travel. Bill Pullman has enough charm to make Jack’s casual slut-shaming edge more to the side of over-protectiveness, but even his likability doesn’t erase the fact that Jack’s role in the film is to “complete” Lucy. On the other hand, he’s still restricted by the boundaries of traditional masculinity, and spends an irritating amount of time in the film judging Lucy for normal interactions with other men. On the one hand, he’s a modern man who is sensitive enough to show vulnerability to his romantic partner. Jack, too, is a man caught between two identities. Even though her character accurately captures the tensions of the time, it’s nevertheless frustrating to watch. To watch Lucy is to see a woman caught between the traditional and modern ideals of the American woman, with no ability to lie firmly in either camp. The paradoxes of this character provide much of the movie’s awkward tension, as mealy-mouthed Lucy stands up to her boss when he asks her to work Christmas, but can’t find the strength to tell the truth to Peter’s family, or to defend herself against Jack’s accusations and jealousy. Sandra Bullock’s Lucy embodies what I’ve come to think of as the “90’s girl heroine,” a woman who is independent enough to live on her own and have her own career, but whose life is still woefully unfulfilled without the presence of a man. My thoughts: The only unimpeachably “good” things in While You Were Sleeping are Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman, two actors whose middle-America charisma and tangible romantic chemistry save this movie from being more painfully uncomfortable than it already is. When Jack, Peter’s brother, comes home for Christmas, he is initially suspicious of Lucy, but soon starts developing romantic feelings for her. The lie soon spirals out of control, as Peter’s warmhearted family absorbs Lucy into their fold, and Lucy is hesitant to lose their kindness. When Peter falls on the train tracks, Lucy risks her life to save him, and follows him to the hospital, where a nurse confuses her for Peter’s fiancée. Synopsis: Lonely Chicago transit worker Lucy yearns for a meaningful relationship, and spends her days at her job pining after a handsome stranger named Peter Callaghan. Bill Pullman and Sandra Bullock in While You Were Sleeping
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