Sleepless in Seattle is a
1993 American romantic comedy film written and directed by
Nora Ephron. Based on a story by
Jeff Arch, it stars
Tom Hanks as Sam Baldwin and
Meg Ryan as Annie Reed.
The film was inspired by
An Affair to Remember and used both its theme song and clips from the film in critical scenes. The climactic meeting at the top of the Empire State Building is a reference to a reunion between
Cary Grant and
Deborah Kerr in
An Affair to Remember that fails to happen because the Kerr character is struck by a car while en route. At one point, some of the characters discuss
Affair, with Sam commenting that it sounds like a "
chick movie."