You've Got Mail

Settle down on the marshmallow settee. No surprises guaranteed. Meg Ryan is still tiptoeing about in bare feet and jimjams. Tom Hanks adds to his appeal as Mr Next Door. You've Got Mail is Sleepless In Seattle 2. Almost.

She owns one of those tweety pie children's bookshops that make you want to be six again. He owns one of those cut-price, browser-friendly megastores that looks so inviting you want to start reading again. It's the corner shop vs the wicked supermarket. You've been here before. Except Hanks can't be the ruthless business shark, surely? He's the romantic lead, for heaven's sake. Right!

The online message service subplot that gives the film its title works well as a fantasy love outlet. Once upon a time they would have been pen pals, with the inevitable thumb-in-mouth final meeting - will he be 20 stone, bald and a smoker? Or her worst enemy and she never knew it?

When Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart and Cary Grant messed about with this kind of thing, it had zip and zap. The Tom & Meg Show is feelgood and sugar-coated, which is expected, but not witty, funny or original enough. If you stayed awake through Sleepless, you'll have no trouble. It's a package. Beautifully wrapped. If you saw it in a shop, you'd think, "If it looks that fancy, it's probably overpriced."