While You Were Sleeping

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2:30

While You Were Sleeping

PG

1995

1h 43m

Romance

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

81%

Tomatometer

63 Reviews

79%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

Lonely transit worker Lucy Eleanor Moderatz pulls her longtime crush, Peter, from the path of an oncoming train. At the hospital, doctors report that he's in a coma, and a misplaced comment from Lucy causes Peter's family to assume that she is his fiancée. When Lucy doesn't correct them, they take her into their home and confidence. Things get even more complicated when she finds herself falling for Peter's sheepish brother, Jack.

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Critics Consensus

While You Were Sleeping is built wholly from familiar ingredients, but assembled with such skill -- and with such a charming performance from Sandra Bullock -- that it gives formula a good name.

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Duane Byrge

The Hollywood Reporter

May 5, 2020

Bullock gives Lucy just the right amount of edge. Pullman's performance as Peter's down-to-earth younger brother is also a deft mix of moxie and frustration.

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Anthony Lane

The New Yorker

Dec 4, 2013

[Bullock] knows one of the secrets of doing romantic comedy: treating the romance as a good joke.

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Steven Rea

Philadelphia Inquirer

Dec 4, 2013

2/4

Compared to While You Were Sleeping, even the half-baked scenario of the Marisa Tomei-Robert Downey Jr. romance Only You looks witty and inventive.

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Danielle Solzman

Solzy at the Movies

Apr 21, 2026

3.5/5

Despite its flaws, While You Were Sleeping endures as a rom-com that thrives on its casting and its Chicago setting, even if it asks viewers to accept some significant leaps in logic along the way.

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Gissane Sophia

Lady Geeks Media

Sep 21, 2025

Cozy, tender, funny, and achingly romantic, While You Were Sleeping beautifully continues to stand the test of time thirty years later.

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

Nov 11, 2021

3.5/4

...an increasingly compelling and charming romantic comedy...

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Huntin P

@PaxVobiscum80 18 hrs ago

Beguiling romcom. Sandra Bullock is front and centre, but really, this is an ensemble comedy. I'd go so far as to say it succeeds in spite of Bullock. Not that I want to take anything away from her: rather I want to assert the comedic prowess of the other actors, who are often the funny ones in the movie. Bullock intervenes to rescue a man she dotes on when he falls off a train platform on Christmas Day. His family come to visit him in hospital - he's in a coma - and are soon under the misapprehension that Bullock's good Samaritan, Lucy, is their boy's fiancée. She's so lonely she doesn;t disabuse them. Then she meets the invalid's brother, Jack (Bill Pullman) and finds her affections pulled in a new direction. What to do? The movie is funny and charming, not icky or vulgar. Everyone could endure (sorry, enjoy!) this one.

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Ace R

@dragoneca2 Aug 10, 2026

This is a wonderful movie. It keeps you wondering what will happen, and it has surprises too. It really tugs at your heart strings, especially towards the end. I recommend that you see this movie.

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Joey C

@JTC1206 Aug 2, 2026

An amazing love story set in the golden age of Chicago. I wish they still had hotdog stands on the river

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Landon J

@Minxsykitty Jul 28, 2026

Just another alright hijinks based romantic comedy. I'm not sure what is so special about this, doesn't mean it was bad, just not spectacular. Watch when you're bored I guess.

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Allie 8

@RT21556228 Jul 11, 2026

I just saw this again after so many years. It’s heartfelt, funny, endearing… the cast shines! 30 years later it holds up! If you enjoyed it as much as I did… watch "The Italians"…more movies should be like them.

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Carli B.

@carliburchett May 24, 2026

love. I hate miscommunication tropes, but I was thankful this one made sense instead of being as simple as her telling the family. She had decent reasoning to not tell them, although it was still a bit cringe as per usual. However, the slippery ice scene alone is enough to make me love this movie

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Jon Turteltaub

Director

Sandra Bullock

Lucy Eleanor Moderatz

Bill Pullman

Jack Callaghan

Peter Gallagher

Peter Callaghan

Peter Boyle

Ox Callaghan

Jack Warden

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While You Were Sleeping: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Lonely transit worker Lucy Eleanor Moderatz pulls her longtime crush, Peter, from the path of an oncoming train. At the hospital, doctors report that he's in a coma, and a misplaced comment from Lucy causes Peter's family to assume that she is his fiancée. When Lucy doesn't correct them, they take her into their home and confidence. Things get even more complicated when she finds herself falling for Peter's sheepish brother, Jack.

Director: Jon Turteltaub
Producer: Joe Roth, Roger Birnbaum
Screenwriter: Daniel G. Sullivan, Fredric LeBow
Production Co: Caravan Pictures, Hollywood Pictures
Rating: PG
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $81.1M
Runtime: 1h 43m
Sound Mix: Surround

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