Two thirty somethings in New York have been ‘virtual pen pals’ for years after striking up a friendship in a chatroom. What they don’t know, is they know each other in real life!
He is Joe Fox, a millionaire who is about to open up a behemoth book store – which will force the closure of many neighbourhood book stores. Including hers.
Kathleen Kelly is the owner of a small bookstore ‘The Shop Around the Corner’ that once belonged to her now late mother.
Will they discover each others “true identity”, and will Kathleen be able to keep her book store open?
Direction
Comedy and romance legend Nora Ephron helms this cute Rom/Com – having worked alongside both Hanks and Ryan in other films – notably their most famous – Sleepless in Seattle.
Cast/Characters
Tom Hanks plays the too likable Joe – who is ‘supposed’ to be a corporate big wig, but he has too much heart. He has some adorable moments with his brother and his aunt (who are his father’s son, and grandfathers daughter).
Meg Ryan plays Kathleen, and this felt like it was nearing the end of her “it” era. She pairs well together with Hanks in their fifth film together. She is equally as adorable as the ‘too sweet’ for New York.
Important costars in the film include Heather Burns, Steve Zahn, and screen legend Jean Stapleton as Kathleen’s co-workers – who assist her in her journey to keep her business afloat, while juggling her online romance (and real life one).
Greg Kinnear, and Parker Posey play fairly stereotyped characters in the boyfriend of Kathleen, and girlfriend of Joe. Finally Dabney Coleman and John Randolph play Joe’s father and grandfather respectively.
Screenplay/Setting/Themes
Based on the classic 1940 romance film, The Shop Around the Corner, Kathleen’s bookstore gets the same name in homage to it. While instead of letters, it is emails in the ‘modern’ take (read in voice over or narration style)
Watching in 2025 it is fairly comical to see the aged tech (dial up internet) etc.
There is too much time spent on the build up of the characters, with Joe and Kathleen agreeing to meet (not knowing they are Joe and Kathleen yet) at the halfway mark of the film. Joe then discovers her identity and for the next half hour the screenplay feels like it is pads out all the narratives that have been built up to at that point.
Following this, the friendship arc in the film should have been longer, with the pair really only beginning this part of the film in the last 20 minutes. This is after we get to the pair both being single (having split with their partners), Kathleen’s store going under, and even Joe’s Dad splitting from his wife.
Looking back on it with a more pessimistic eye, I did find Joe’s actions quite manipulative. He knew of Kathleen’s ‘identity’ from halfway through the film and uses this to his own advantage. He instills trust in her, and albeit despite that he has feelings for her – with more modern events in mind, it does come across somewhat problematic.
There are a couple of throw away lines from Randolph’s Grandpa Fox where he makes reference to knowing Kathleen’s mother, and the store. These are done a couple of times and add nothing to the overall film, or narrative. Why even mention this?
Score/Soundtrack
Like other films in the comedy era, it tends to favour its soundtrack rather than the score. However there are several poignant moments like Kathleen waiting for the date to start, and when her store is closing.
Overall
At 2hrs, it is a little too long, and should have paid attention to more important areas of the screenplay such as building the friendship between Joe and Kathleen.
It gives more screen-time between the pair than their previous outing gave – which works well because there is nice chemistry between them.
Still a cute comedy even after 25+ years.
4/5
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