Analysis of a rom-com trailer

We have been given the task to analyse either a slasher trailer or a romantic comedy trailer, and so I have chosen to analyse the rom-com Sleepless in Seattle from 1993 starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.

Opening: establishing setting, introducing characters

• Tom Hanks is a young ish - middle aged man living in Seattle with a young son and is grieving over the loss of his wife.
• Meg Ryan plays a young woman working in a busy office in Baltimore, engaged to someone who she doesn't really love.
• The little boy (Jonah) is trying to set up his Dad with a "new wife" so that he stops feeling so upset about losing the mother.

Build-up: relationships established, development of characters and their world

• Strong relationship between father and son - have to stick together and be strong now that the mother/wife isn't around. (In a rom-com there always seems to be one relationship that is always there and never disappears; whether that be one of best friends or a family relationship).
• Meg Ryan is in a relationship just for the sake of being in a relationship it seems, because she doesn't really love the man she is with - perhaps nothing better came along so she just stuck with it (until she heard about the man they call "Sleepless in Seattle" that is).
• Once Meg Ryan has heard about Tom Hanks on the radio her whole frame of mind about her relationship changes and she realises she really doesn't want to be with her fiance; she wants to be with this man from the radio.

Problem: a dilemma or series of complication; characters faced with an obstacle (or several) to overcome

• The radio phone in is at first the problem because Tom Hanks in furious at his son for calling in. But then as lots of interest comes in about the mysterious caller, all seems to be forgiven.
• The obstacle is that Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks live thousands of miles away from each other on opposite sides of the country.
• Meg Ryan has to decide whether to take the risk and try and find "Sleepless in Seattle" or stick with her boring fiance who she doesn't love.

Events:

• There is always some type of problem at the beginning of the film (in this case, Tom Hanks is grieving the loss of his wife) and then somebody always tries to fix it (the son in this case), which doesn't always go to plan and doesn't work out.
• Next there is something that happens that sparks a level of interest and a "should I or shouldn't I?" type of feeling for the characters (for example, "should I or shouldn't I travel thousand of miles to meet a man/woman whom I have never personally spoken to or met before?"
• If the characters decide to "take the plunge" and go for that crazy, wreckless thing they want to do, they have to get rid of any obstacles in their way which might hold them back (Meg Ryan's fiance for example).
• Finally, a romantic comedy more often than not has a happy ending and everything somehow miraculously works out so that the characters can live "happily ever after".