- Film Review
- Reviewed By David Parkinson
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3 out of 5
This frail but winsome romantic comedy reunited Tom Hanks with both his Sleepless in Seattle co-star, Meg Ryan, and director, Nora Ephron. Billed as the screen's first internet love story, it is a reworking of Ernst Lubitsch's classic The Shop around the Corner, in which the stars play rivals in the bookshop business who unknowingly fall for each other in an online chat-room. But it's rarely as amusing as it should be and, for the most part, is frustratingly unromantic, with the leads coming together more like merged files than infatuated lovers. What's more, Ephron's combination of battle-of-the-sexes comedy and the struggle between community and capitalism (that tries to echo the style of Frank Capra) lacks social resonance. However, the latter-day screwball tale is certainly slickly staged and played with consummate ease, and Ryan and her bookshop staff exude a pleasant feeling of cosiness.
Plot Summary
Romantic comedy starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks as Kathleen Kelly and Joe Fox, the owners of rival New York bookshops. When Joe threatens to put Kathleen out of business, he shares his misgivings about the impending closure of her store and other personal secrets with an anonymous chat-room partner - and makes a startling discovery that only adds to his dilemma.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Kathleen Kelly
- Meg Ryan
- Joe Fox
- Tom Hanks
- Frank Navasky
- Greg Kinnear
- Patricia Eden
- Parker Posey
- George Pappas
- Steve Zahn
- Kevin Scanlon
- Dave Chappelle
- Nelson Fox
- Dabney Coleman
- Schuyler
- John Randolph
- Birdie Conrad
- Jean Stapleton
- Christina Plutzker
- Heather Burns
- Gillian Quinn
- Cara Seymour
- Charlie
- Michael Badalucco
Crew
- Director
- Nora Ephron
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