Plot
Lucy Eleanor Moderatz is a lonely fare token collector for the Chicago Transit Authority, stationed at the Randolph/Wabash station. She secretly loves Peter Callaghan, a handsome commuter, though they are strangers. On Christmas Day, she rescues Peter from the oncoming Chicago "L" train after muggers push him onto the tracks. She accompanies the comatose Peter to the hospital, where a nurse overhears her musing aloud, "I was going to marry him." Misinterpreting, the nurse tells his family that she is his fiancée.
The family admits they haven't heard from Peter in a long time so being engaged is a surprise. Lucy becomes too caught up in the crisis to explain the truth. She remains silent for several reasons: She is embarrassed; Peter's grandmother, Elsie, has a heart condition; and Lucy falls in love with Peter's big, loving family. While visiting Peter, she confesses her predicament to him, unaware Peter's godfather Saul overhears the truth and later confronts her. Saul finds that Lucy is alone, her mother died when she was very young and her dad just passed the year prior. He says he will keep her secret because the accident has brought the family closer and he knows that Lucy isn't being malicious.
With no family and few friends, Lucy becomes so captivated with the quirky Callaghans and their unconditional love for her that she is unable to hurt them by revealing that Peter does not know her. She spends a belated Christmas with them, then meets Peter's younger brother Jack, who is supposed to take over his father's furniture business, though he wants his own business. Jack is initially suspicious, but he falls in love with Lucy as they spend time together. She soon falls in love with him. They bond over their similar humor, their dreams of traveling, and their intense love for the Callaghans. Although their relationship comes to a momentary standstill when Jack, due to a misunderstanding, announces her "pregnancy" during her friend's New Year's Eve party, prompting them to have an argument eventually revealing their mutual dissatisfaction with life. Meanwhile, Peter's actual girlfriend, who we only know as Ashley, has agreed to marry him on his answering machine and leaves follow-up messages about his non-responsiveness, saying she has come back to town and wants to see him.
After New Year's Eve, Peter wakes up. He does not know Lucy, so it is assumed he has amnesia. Lucy attempts to tell the family the truth, but they assume she is telling them she's not really pregnant and they brush it off. Saul intercepts Lucy, saying he will handle telling the news to the Callahans. Jack takes her back home and Lucy tells him she appreciates how kind he's been and says he's been a great friend. Jack is finally able to tell his father he doesn't want to take over the business and wants to make furniture. His father not only understands but says he should've told him sooner.
Saul visits Peter and tells him what a putz he is for how he treats women and he'd be lucky to marry Lucy, that she is special. Lucy and Peter begin spending time together and he realizes what a sweet girl she is. Meanwhile, Ashley Bartlett Bacon has come back to the city and finds from Peter's doorman that he's now engaged and he's in the hospital. She gets there and confronts him, saying they are engaged but he said no, they broke up when she turned down his offer not knowing she accepted over his answering machine. He tells her that he's a changed man and is marrying Lucy now. Lucy finds out that Saul never told the Callahans she's not Peter's fiance and goes back to the hospital to tell him herself. Peter tells Lucy how much he cares for her and proposes to her "again" and Lucy accepts, though she is now in love with Jack. When Jack visits her the day before the wedding, she gives him a chance to change her mind, asking if he can give her a reason not to marry Peter. He replies that he cannot, leaving her disappointed.
On the day of the wedding, just as a priest begins the ceremony, Lucy finally confesses everything and tells the family she not only fell in love with all of them, but she loves Jack rather than Peter. At this point, Peter's real fiancée, Ashley, arrives and demands the wedding be stopped. As the family argues, Lucy slips out unnoticed, unsure of her future.
Some time later, while Lucy is at work, Jack places an engagement ring in the token tray of her booth. He enters her booth and with most of the Callaghan family watching, proposes to her. Jack and Lucy are married and then leave on a CTA train for their honeymoon. Lucy narrates that he fulfilled her dream of going to Florence, Italy, and explains that, when Peter asked when she fell in love with Jack, she replied, "It was while you were sleeping."
Production
Both Demi Moore and Julia Roberts were offered the role of Lucy Moderatz but turned it down. [2]
After Disney’s Hollywood Pictures acquired the script in 1994, it struggled to find interested actors. Meg Ryan was one of the first to turn down the role, as Lucy was initially meant to be the one who falls into a coma. [3]
Though the original screenplay was entitled “Coma Guy”, the title was changed shortly after the script was acquired by Caravan Pictures. [4] The original script was set in New York City, but for budget reasons, the setting was changed to Chicago where it was shot on location. [4] Filming took place from October 8 to December 14, 1994. [5]
Bill Pullman reportedly tried to quit the film after an infamous table read that producer John Glickman called, "the worst table read of all time", but was told by his agent him he could not quit another film. [6]
