YOU'VE GOT MAIL

• Starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan
• Directed by Nora Ephron
• Rated PG, with mild profanity; running time 119 minutes
• With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a 9

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(Dec. 18, 1998) -- You've Got Mail, a new romantic comedy with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, is as warm and cozy as a cuddle under a favorite old quilt.

Modern movie buffs will be reminded of Hanks and Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle; others may recognize the plot of The Shop Around the Corner, a classic from 1939. The new twist, of course, is that love blossoms on the Internet.

By now, in their third film together, the romantic chemistry between the two stars is endearing, inviting comparisons to Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart and June Allyson, Rock Hudson and Doris Day.

You've Got Mail also reunites the pair with Sleepless writer-director Nora Ephron, a smart, sophisticated filmmaker who knows how to tweak familiar themes and characters to make them fresh.

Hanks is Joe Fox, a third-generation merchandising mogul in charge of the family business -- a chain of bookstores in the Barnes & Noble mega-mold. Ryan is Kathleen Kelly, who operates a small, one-of-a-kind children's bookstore on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Her store, The Shop Around the Corner, is threatened by the arrival on the block of a giant Fox bookstore.

They're natural enemies. But meanwhile, each has struck up an e-mail correspondence with an appealing stranger on the Internet. Each is falling in love. And neither knows it's with the other.

In cyberspace, they've found a relationship more fulfilling than the one they already have. Fox is involved with a book editor (Parker Posey) who is so hyper "she makes coffee nervous." Kelly is dating a self-absorbed newspaper columnist (Greg Kinnear).

As the e-mail romance grows, Fox and Kelly decide they should meet. Little do they know they've already met -- as competing booksellers -- and don't think much of each other.

The screenplay by Ephron and her sister, Delia, cleverly builds tension for the hoped-for meeting of the cyber-lovers, especially since we also see them as oil-and-water adversaries.

Though the computer is central to the story, smart cross-cuts and voice-overs keep the keyboard sequences from bogging down. You don't spend much time watching words on a screen.

You've Got Mail also is an appealing ode to the people, restaurants, coffee shops and stores of the vibrant Upper West Side. You'll meet the likable eccentrics who work in Kelly's bookstore; Fox's randy, much-married dad (Dabney Coleman); and of course, the former lovers (Posey and Kinnear).

While the central romance is perfectly developed, a few of the subplots simply disappear. But that's a minor glitch in a generally delightful romantic comedy. You've Got Mail argues persuasively that two hearts can beat as one, even in cyberspace.

Benefit

Though You've Got Mail opens Friday, a special benefit screening will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 19, at Tinseltown, 2291 Buffalo Road. Tickets benefit Cancer Action and are available for a one-time price of $4. Advance reservations only; tickets won't be available at the door. Call Cancer Action at 423-9700.