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Sleepless in Seattle
- PG
- Year:
- 1993
- 105 min
- 1,460 Views
FADE IN:
A card:
Chicago.He's in his thirties. His neck is pinched into a crisp
dress shirt and tie. His expression is vacant, faraway.
A breeze blows but he doesn't react to it. In the
distance the architecture of the Chicago skyline.
SAM:
Mommy got sick and it happened
just like that and there was
(continued)
And pull back to reveal:
EXT. CHICAGO - A GRAVESITE - DAY
Next to Sam is his son Jonah, age 9. Sam's hand is on
his shoulder. As the mourners go past and each takes a
turn shoveling a clod of dirt into an open grave --
SAM:
If we start asking why we'll go
crazy. So, rule number one.
We don't ask why.
CUT TO:
Pretty, blonde, animated. Jeans, a T-shirt, a Baltimore
Orioles hat.
ANNIE:
Why? I just want to know why?
That's my first rule. I always
ask why. Come on. Tell me.
C'mon, c'mon, c'mon --
And pull back to reveal:
Annie is talking to her boyfriend, a good-looking guy
named SETH. They're carrying packing boxes into the
house they share in the Old Town section of Chicago.
The same stunning architecture in the b.g. They go up
the back wooden staircase to the house.
SETH:
There's no why, Annie. I'm
just not up for it. I never
said I was.
ANNIE:
SETH:
Nope.
ANNIE:
You don't love me, is that it?
SETH:
Nope.
Follow them into:
INT. KITCHEN - DUSK
As they set down the packing boxes and Seth starts to
assemble them.
ANNIE:
How about ... you're too
narcissistic to commit to
another human being in a long-
term way.
SETH:
(agreeably)
That's good.
CUT TO:
INT. SAM'S CHICAGO TOWN HOUSE - DAY
An attractive, thirtyish couple, SUZY and GREG are
stocking Sam's freezer with enough Ziploc meals for a
months. A number of friends and relatives talk quietly
in the living room beyond. Sam stands alone by a window
that looks into the backyard. We can see a garden of
flowers -- clearly planted by Sam's wife.
SUZY:
Five minutes in the microwave.
Any one of them, five minutes
and done. Ready to eat. Do
you know how to make juice?
SAM:
Microwave. Five minutes.
CUT TO:
ANNIE'S KITCHEN - SEVERAL DAYS LATER
Packing boxes. Seth is moving out.
ANNIE:
You take the microwave?
SETH:
What am I going to do with a
microwave?
ANNIE:
You turn it on, you open it and
you stand in front of it for a
very long time.
SETH:
So you're angry. Big deal.
CUT TO:
SAM'S OFFICE - DAY
A large modern architectural firm in a Chicago high-
rise. Lake Michigan out the window. A large space with
several architects consulting, drafting, etc. Sam is at
his desk, working. An older colleague, ROB, comes over
to him. Rob has a mustache, smokes a pipe; he's kind
but a little stuffy.
ROB:
Young man, it's none of my
business, but maybe you should
talk to someone. I myself
have consulted a professional.
I used to be up tight.
On Sam's face. It's hard to imagine Rob being any more
uptight than he is. Sam takes some business cards out
of his shirt pocket and reads them off.
SAM:
Hypnotherapy...Shiatu Massage...
Loss of Spouse support groups...
Single parent discussion nights...
Parents without partners.
(starts riffling, angry)
Partners without parents.
People who need people. Guys
who go into the woods, beat
drums and bond. Get a shrink.
Hug a friend. Hug yourself.
He stops, realizing that everyone in the room is staring
at him. Quickly they pretend they weren't paying
attention. Someone whispers something to a client.
SAM:
(continued)
Don't mind him. He's the guy
who just lost his wife.
(beat)
What I really think is we need
a change.
ROB:
Good idea. Take a few weeks
off, get some sun, take Jonah
fishing --
SAM:
(shaking his head no)
A real change. New city.
Someplace where every time I go
around a corner I don't think
of Maggie.
And hold on Sam for a moment and--
DISSOLVE:
Sam, Jonah and Maggie walking toward the field. It's a
gorgeous day for a game. They high-five each other.
ROB (V.O.)
Where you going to go?
And cut back to:
INT. SAM'S OFFICE - DAY
As Sam snaps out of it.
SAM:
The Living Section of the paper. Annie is blowing her
nose as she finishes telling her tale of woe to her
boss, LAURIE JOHNSON.
LAURIE:
Honey, he wasn't right for you.
ANNIE:
(blowing her nose)
I know.
LAURIE:
He wasn't even wrong for you,
like cosmically wrong, so don't
beat up on yourself for
wasting...however long it was.
ANNIE:
I know.
(blowing her nose
again)
She pours Annie a cup of hot water. Annie pulls a
teabag out of her pocket, puts it into the water.
LAURIE:
Maybe you should see a shrink.
ANNIE:
I want my money.
LAURIE:
Go home for the weekend.
ANNIE:
(after a beat)
That's what I'm going to do.
I'm going to go home.
I quit. Laurie, I quit. I'm
going back to Baltimore.
(she's giddy)
How does a blonde do a high-
five?
She smacks herself in the head.
CUT TO:
O'HARE AIRPORT - DAY
The X where walkway K crosses with walkway L. Coming
down walkway K are Sam, Jonah, Suzy, Greg, their son
MACK, and several other friends.
And coming down walkway L is Annie with Laurie and a
couple of FRIENDS from the paper, JUDITH and DIANE.
They pass each other going in diagonal directions and
continue on.
We stay with Sam's group:
JONAH:
(to Mack)
Dad says I'm going to get used
to it, but I don't think you
can ever get used to a
designated hitter.
overlap:
SUZY:
(to Sam)
Eventually, in a few months,
you'll meet someone.
SAM:
Move on. Right. That's what
I'm going to do. In a few
months, boom, I'll be fine,
I'll just grow a new heart.
SUZY:
I'm sorry --
GREG:
Sam, she didn't mean --
Sam is shaking his head no as they reach the gate for
the Seattle plane.
SAM:
I know, I know.
(emphatic)
Look, it doesn't happen twice.
CUT TO:
Annie's group, as they approach the gate for the
Baltimore plane.
ANNIE:
I'm going to meet someone,
someone nice and stable who
wears a hat so he won't catch a
cold, and I'm going to marry
him and have three children
and live happily ever after.
I mean, I am not cut out for this
--
DIANE:
For what?
ANNIE:
For life as we know it.
LAURIE:
Just make sure he isn't fat
like my Michael or you'll spend
going to drop dead.
JUDITH:
God, you guys are so romantic.
ANNIE:
Do you know how long romance
lasts?
(she snaps her fingers)
That long.
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"Sleepless in Seattle" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 Sep. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/sleepless_in_seattle_740>.
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