You’ve Got Mail (1998)

(On TV, November 2001) At first, it’s hard to see why any heartless chump would dislike this romantic comedy. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are free to look their cutest, the direction is suitable and New York shines through. Heck, even the story is interesting, what with a big-bookstore / independent-bookstore fight and an internet-age update of a pen-pal romance. It works… but then the film doesn’t end when it should, drags on for far too long and becomes more and more unpleasant from a moral point of view. The quasi-stalking behavior of Hank’s character is borderline creepy. The final helping of sugar helps to soften the blow, but the overall impact of the film is considerably lessened by its final 30 minutes. Still, there’s no denying that it’s a bit more interesting than originally anticipated.