Warner Bros. Pictures, Rated PG
Directed by Nora Ephron
Written by Nora Ephron & Delia Ephron based on the play "Parfumerie" by Miklos Laszlo

It's been five year's since the sleeper hit Sleepless in Seattle which made Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan the couple of the '90s (they had already been paired in the much-less-successful Joe versus the Volcano). Now, they are back together with that film's director in You've Got Mail, a movie practically pre-ordained by God to be successful. The movie is based on the 1940 romantic comedy The Shop Around the Corner, which in turn was based on a play called "Parfumerie" about two people who hate each other but also write each other secret love letters. Since it's the age of the internet and all, the letters are now e-mail, on America Online no less, in a none-too-subtle example of product placement. It reeks of a bunch of Hollywood executives brainstorming the latest high concept project, and sort of plays that way. "A movie about the internet, gee, how timely!" Of course, this could all look awfully dated in less than ten years, but never mind. Thankfully, the "high concept" doesn't take center stage, and the characters are actually well-developed, even though the dialogue is just a bit too clever, especially for the typing sequences.
Hanks turns in another good performance as Joe Fox, son of the owner of a vast bookstore chain that threatens to drive Kathleen Kelly's (Ryan) bookstore out of business. Both Joe and Kathleen are in relationships that are all wrong for them (the girl- and boyfriend are played hilariously by Parker Posey and Greg Kinnear). They trade e-mail and soon fall in love with each other and eventually decide to meet. Little do they know they're also bitter rivals in the book business.
The film builds realistic characters for the two leads, a smidge too cute and privileged, but nonetheless. Apparently, there was a lot more film here than what we see, because the marvelous Michael Palin had several scenes that were cut out completely, but perhaps that held the film together better. The film's message, about how two people who normally wouldn't could find each other given different circumstances, is quite thought-provoking, but I'm sure we've heard that message before. It has some great moments but the ending is bogged down by predictability and it doesn't add up to much. In a time when romantic comedies are all alike, this film is still more interesting than most, thanks in large part to Hanks and Ryan, who could probably just read the phonebook in their next hit film. ***