Those Three Little Words:
You've Got Mail Brings Romance Online

We go to the movies to escape real life, but once in a while a story strikes a too familiar chord, touching us in a way we didn't think possible. For those members of the online community who have flirted or fallen in love in cyberspace, no movie could be more on target than Nora Ephron's latest offering You've Got Mail.

From the writer of such modern romantic classics as When Harry Met Sally... and Sleepless in Seattle comes yet another picture of loneliness and heartache in the '90s. Adapted from the 1940 Jimmy Stewart film The Shop Around the Corner, Ephron has updated the story by putting the two secret penpals on the Internet where they can hide behind the anonymity of screen names like "Shopgirl" and "NY152".

You've Got Mail reunites the wonderful onscreen chemistry of Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, who so beautifully tugged at heartstrings in 1993's Sleepless in Seattle. Ryan plays Kathleen Kelly, a small bookstore owner whose growing relationship with a man she met online is becoming her obsession. Each morning when her live-in boyfriend Frank (Greg Kinnear) leaves for work, she goes online in hopes of hearing those special words, "You've got mail."

Hanks plays Joe Fox, Kathleen's Internet interest and the man who could destroy her business. Joe is the legacy of Fox and Sons Bookstore, a large chain store that, as he puts it, "offers discount books, and legal, addictive stimulants." Hence, Kathleen is concerned that the small children's bookstore her mother created could be in danger.

While terribly funny at times, You've Got Mail is also a bittersweet romance. There are moments of genuine heartache, as everything in the movie does not go exactly the way a perfect romance would. And while the movie is being promoted as an Internet love story, the majority of the movie has little to do with the Internet. Those parts that do, however, are true to form with one possible exception: Ryan and Hanks never hear a busy signal when they dial America Online.

Ryan is devastatingly charming, with an initial vulnerability that could cause any man to want to play a white knight and go to her rescue. Yet, she develops an inner strength that grows, in part, because of the influence of her online penpal. Hanks does a terrific job of playing a corporate "suit," and still comes across as a nice guy. In the end, audiences are rooting for Hanks and hoping that he can convince Ryan to love him.

In addition to great performances by Hanks and Ryan, this film has the benefit of several great actors in supporting roles. Chief among these is the aforementioned Kinnear, as a nerdy, techno-phobic columnist and Kathleen's boyfriend. Sadly, Kinnear is underutilized and almost forgotten. Steve Zahn plays George, one of Kathleen's employees at the shop. His lazy, half-witted demeanor is both funny and charming. Playing Joe's obnoxious, materialistic girlfriend is Parker Posey, best known for her work in independent films like Basquiat and Waiting for Guffman.

In short, You've Got Mail is a delightful comedy, with a good romantic story and a cute premise. I recommend it to anyone who has ever been in love, or like Ryan's character still has "the dream of someone".

MY RATING: 8 out of 10.

RATED: PG
RUN TIME: 119 min.