THE Ultimate Rom-com list.

Sleepless in Seattle by Nora Ephron

Sam Baldwin, a Chicago architect, loses his wife Maggie to cancer. He and his 8-year old son Jonah start anew in ,, but Sam continues to grieve.

A year and a half later, on Christmas Eve 1992, Jonah—who wants his father to find a new wife—calls in to a radio talk show. Jonah persuades Sam to go on the air to talk about how much he misses Maggie. Hundreds of women from around the country who hear the program and are touched by the story write to Sam.

One of the listeners is Annie Reed, a reporter. She is engaged to amiable suitable Walter but feels there is something missing from their cordial relationship, feeling no "magic". After watching the film , Annie impulsively writes a letter suggesting that Sam meet her on top of the on Valentine's Day. She does not intend to mail it, but her friend and editor Becky does it for her and agrees to send Annie to Seattle to "look into doing a story on those radio shows".

Sam begins dating a co-worker, Victoria, whom Jonah dislikes. Jonah, a baseball fan, reads Annie's letter and likes that it mentions the , but he fails to convince his father to go to New York to meet Annie. On the advice of his playmate Jessica, Jonah replies to Annie, agreeing to the New York meeting.

While dropping Victoria off at the airport for a flight, Sam sees Annie exiting from her plane and is mesmerized by her, although he has no idea who she is. Annie later secretly watches Sam and Jonah playing on the beach together but mistakes Sam's sister for his girlfriend. He recognizes her from the airport and says "Hello", but Annie can only respond with another "Hello" before fleeing. She decides she is being foolish and goes to New York to meet Walter for Valentine's Day.

With Jessica's help, Jonah flies to New York without Sam's permission and goes to the Empire State Building searching for Annie. Jonah goes to the observation deck and asks every unattached woman if she is Annie. Sam, distraught, follows Jonah and finds him on the observation deck. Meanwhile, Annie sees the skyscraper from the where she is dining with Walter and confesses her doubts to him. They amicably end their engagement. She rushes to the Empire State Building but is told that the observation deck is closed. Annie begs the guard to let her go to the observation deck, using a phrase from An Affair to Rememberwhich the guard recognizes. Citing it as his wife's favorite movie, he lets her go up. She arrives at the top just moments after the doors to the down elevator close with Sam and Jonah inside.

In spite of the observation deck being deserted, Annie convinces the elevator operator to let her take a quick look around. She discovers a backpack that Jonah has left behind. As she pulls out Jonah's teddy bear from the backpack, Sam and Jonah emerge from the elevator, and the three meet for the first time. Annie asks Jonah if the teddy bear is his, and he says it is. "Are you Annie?" Jonah asks. She nods yes, and Jonah smiles. "You're Annie?" says a stunned and lovestruck Sam. The elevator operator clears his throat. Sam indicates they should go, momentarily making it unclear what his intentions are, until he says "Shall we?", tenderly offering his hand to Annie. "Magic" is implied, because the couple keep holding hands as the three enter the elevator together. When the elevator door closes, the last thing we see is Jonah's beaming smile as he realizes his plan to bring Annie and his father together has worked.

I give it 3/5 stars