You've Got Mail (1998)

YOU'VE GOT MAIL re-teams writer-turned-director Nora Ephron with 
her SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE stars Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan and they've 
never looked cuter together or had a more-adorable chemistry with 
each other.  In this loose remake of THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER, 
they play bookstore business rivals who are also anonymous (and 
increasingly amorous) Internet pen pals.  Can you guess the rest 
of the story from there?  As it turns out, predictability is the 
*least* of the film's problems.  Ephron's script (co-written with 
Delia Ephron, her sister?) fires in too many directions at once 
and, worse never balances their business selves with their online 
ones.  (Their characters never feel as close as they act.)  The 
ending is rather shaky, too, featuring some manipulation by Hanks' 
character that borders on the cruel.  A top cast, New York in the 
fall, and lotsa humor make this an easy-sit, even if every 6 min-
utes brings another product plug or obtrusive oldie on the sound-
track.  Eh, take your girlfriend.  She'll love it and maybe you'll 
even get to watch THE GODFATHER afterward.  With Greg Kinnear, 
David Chappelle, Dabney Coleman, Parker Posey, Steve Zahn, and 
looking alarmingly aged, Jean Stapleton.  (Rated "PG"/117 min.)

Grade: B-

Copyright 1998 Michael J. Legeros
Movie Hell is a trademark of Michael J. Legeros

Originally posted to triangle.movies as MOVIE HELL: December 20, 1998