AT ODDS IN LIFE… IN LOVE ON-LINE.

Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) has a flirty but anonymous online relationship with Joe Fox (Tom Hanks), little dreaming that he’s actually the owner of a huge chain that’s trying to close her little children’s book store.

Hanks and Ryan reunited for their third romantic film, a remake of The Shop Around the Corner (1940) that gives the old story a modern touch… even though much of what was considered high-tech at the time now already looks antiquated in a cute way.

Still, what matters is the romantic potential of the Ephron sisters’ script and the two star performances – and they all deliver. Funny and sweet, with great NYC locations and a good supporting cast.

1998-U.S. 119 min. Color. Directed by Nora Ephron. Screenplay: Nora Ephron, Delia Ephron. Cast: Tom Hanks (Joe Fox), Meg Ryan (Kathleen Kelly), Parker Posey (Patricia Eden), Greg Kinnear, Jean Stapleton, Steve Zahn, Dave Chappelle, Dabney Coleman, John Randolph. 

Trivia: Co-produced by Ephron. Julia Roberts was considered for the part of Kathleen. Scenes with Michael Palin were filmed, but cut. 

Last word: “Essentially, romantic comedies mean somebody works a lot longer on my hair than they usually do. The rest of it is you show up and Nora Ephron works. Working on a movie with Nora is kind of like going to a dinner party of hers. There’s a lot of great conversation. There’s a certain amount of screwing around but, by and large, you wind up talking about what Nora dictates you’re going to wind up talking about. The screenplay of You’ve Got Mail is just like people talking. The fact that we’re in Manhattan and in real restaurants and coffee houses made this thing almost as though I wasn’t even at work.” (Hanks, Cranky Critic)