by Moe Zilla

Created on: January 29, 2008   Last Updated: April 04, 2009

"You've Got Mail" offers an updated version of the classic 1940 comedy "Shop Around the Corner" - but it's mostly just another simple romantic comedy. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan play two people falling in love online - without realizing that in real life they're bitter business rivals.

The story was directed (and partially written) by Nora Ephron, who'd already earned a reputation for several other popular romantic comedies, including "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993) and "When Harry Met Sally" (1989). Both those films were nominated for Oscars, and both starred Meg Ryan. (In "Sleepless in Seattle," Ryan also met Tom Hanks remotely, through a long-distance letter.) "You've Got Mail" attempted to combine these ingredients one more time - the actors, the director, and the desire for a heart-warming romantic comedy.

But this time the plot seemed more contrived. (There were even reports that AOL paid $3 million to purchase the title of the film, replacing it with the famous words used for their online service.) Meg Ryan yet-again plays a perky single woman looking for romance, egged on by her sympathetic friend (played by Parker Posey). To update the plot, the script has Ryan's character going online, sending emails as "ShopGirl" to Tom Hanks' AOL account, "NY152." But the online flirting is just a gimmick, and it actually occupies very little of the film.

There's one more modern plot twist. Meg Ryan's character runs a small local bookstore, and it's about to be driven out of business by the national chain store run by Tom Hanks. (Offering a faint echo of the 1940 film, her bookstore is even named "The Shop Around the Corner.") Ryan's character tries organizing a boycott of the chain, but eventually her shop goes under, and her three quirky employees are all forced to get other jobs. Yes, the Ryan and Hanks characters eventually meet and fall in love, and the closing credits roll with an old-fashioned version of "Over the Rainbow." But one critic pointed out that their business dispute doesn't get a happy ending. As he saw it, the film's ultimate message was that it's okay if a big chain store destroys your family-owned business, because its manager will be cuddly and loveable like Tom Hanks!

But there's a bigger problem with this movie. Its plot is a mechanical, by-the-numbers attempt to re-create the magic of better romantic comedies that preceded it. Maybe the producers were trying to tell us that we're all looking for love in a world of cynical commerce. As Tom Hanks checks his email for a message from Meg Ryan, his inbox shows he's also received two other unsolicited messages.

"Earn Fast Cash" and "Learn Latin While You Sleep."

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