The rising action is when Peter has finally woken up from his coma. This is when Lucy realizes that she needs to come clean and confess to the family as Peter does not know her personally. This is also around the moment where she realizes that she has feelings for Jack, Peter’s brother so she is caught up in her lies and the fear of hurting the Callaghan. Her problems have become more complicated. 

The conflict in the story is introduced during the beginning of the movie when she is misunderstood by Peter’s family. Lucy has to pretend to be Peter’s fiancée in order to not hurt Peter’s family. In the rising action, the conflict becomes more complicated when Peter wakes up from his coma.

I also feel that Lucy’s loneliness and her desire to have a family to spend the Christmas with can be interpreted as the conflict in the story because it is the female lead’s internal conflict with herself. Other than not wanting to hurt Peter’s family, due to Lucy’s desire and loneliness, she continues to pretend to be Peter’s fiancée.

The climax is during Lucy’s wedding ceremony with Peter. She confesses to everything and admits that she is in love with Jack, and not Peter. 

The falling action is when Lucy starts explaining why she continues to pretend to be Peter’s fiancée and the whole family seems to forgive her as they look at her with understanding expressions. Jack also seems to be happy that Lucy is not truly engaged with Peter. 

The resolution is when Jack and his family visit Lucy at her work before he proposes to her as the movie ends with them getting married.

Each character plays a part in the movie. Lucy is very kind and brave, this shows when she jumps onto the tracks to save Peter. I feel like this is important because Peter’s family starts to take a liking to her because of her kindness. Jack seems very down-to-earth which would be very suitable for a character like Lucy who needs someone that understands her, unlike Peter who seems self-absorbed as somehow he feels like the world revolves around him. He does not seem like someone who would sincerely be there for Lucy and understand her. Joe Jr. is like the comedy relief in my opinion because as kind as he is, he always makes me laugh with his unrequited love towards Lucy. The Callaghan family is very accepting and kind which is exactly what Lucy needs.

The setting is in California, and during winter. It is bright during the day and romantic at night. Whenever Jack and Lucy would spend some time together, I feel like they spend it at night. For example, when Jack brings the family’s gift to Lucy and he walks her home after she helps him with the sofa. It seems even more romantic with the snow and the calm surroundings. The background music is also very soothing but at the same time, suits the Christmas theme. When Jack confronts Lucy about her ‘pregnancy’, they were also meeting at night time where he follows her to her friend’s party. Even during the night, the atmosphere seems vibrant with Christmas decorations. The characters’ attire seems to be mostly coats as the setting is during winter but only when they are out of their houses. They usually wear casual clothing unless there is an event such as the wedding where the characters would wear accordingly. Peter, however, even in the beginning he seems to be wearing suits, indicating that he is very businesslike, maybe, unlike Jack who wears casual clothes, and seems very relaxed.

He has directed several successful mainstream films other than 'While You Were Sleeping', for the Walt Disney Studios, 3 Ninjas (1992), Cool Runnings (1993), Phenomenon(1996),  Instinct (1999), Disney's The Kid (2000), National Treasure (2004), as well as its 2007 sequel National Treasure: Book of Secrets, and The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010). Turteltaub also produced the CBS elevision series Jericho, and also directed the show's first three episodes.