Sleepless in Seattle (1993).

The high-point of Sleepless in Seattle, from a purely computational point of view, is when Jessica (Gaby Hoffman) makes illicit use of her mother's travel-computer terminal to obtain an airline ticket for her young friend Jonah Baldwin (Ross Malinger).

Jonah needs to fly to New York to meet Annie Reed (Meg Ryan) on behalf of his father Sam (Tom Hanks) - who knows nothing of Jonah's plans.

Jessica's parents have been none too careful with the password needed to access the travel computer. Of course we all know that you have to be careful with access to computer systems, don't we, or see what can happen - your daughter has sent her small friend halfway across the country.

Sleepless in Seattle is a lovely film. War and Peace, Basic Instinct, or Terminator 2 it ain't, thank God. It is closer to `An Affair to Remember' (1957) to which it pays homage.

At the start of the film Jonah's mother has died. Sam and Jonah are having trouble coming to terms with this. Jonah, with the innocence of youth, rings up a radio talk-back show and in a moment of weakness Sam is persuaded to talk on-air. The resulting broadcast creates feverish interest across the nation. Who and where are this sad father and son? Annie Reed, a New York journalist, is one of many smitten, even though she knows that it is folly; in addition she is already engaged to be married.

Will Annie make the sensible marriage she had planned? Will Sam find solace with a date from Seattle? Of course not, or why would Jonah need to fly across the USA with a frantic Sam in pursuit - but it is all very nicely done.

Some film details from the Cardiff movie database:

• Directed by: Nora Ephron
• From the cast:
  • Tom Hanks ... Sam Baldwin
  • Meg Ryan ... Annie Reed
  • Gaby Hoffman ... Jessica
  • Ross Malinger ... Jonah Baldwin
• Produced by: Gary Foster

Sleepless in Seattle has recently been released on video by `Columbia Tristar Hoyts Home Video'.