Tagline:* **Someone you pass on the street may already be the love of your life. At odds in life... in love on-line
In a Nut Shell:
Living inside a self created, self centered and selfish world, we sometimes fail to realize what we are to others, we could have been to others and the difference between the both. Hence, it’s not unnatural, that circumstances can make split even those who could have been the most compatible couple in to enmity, as it is in the case of Kathleen Kelly and Joe Fox. Both are clear Business rivals. Little do they know that their alternate egos in a world of virtual reality (chatting through e-mails), share a wonderfully constructive, sympathetic and friendly relationship. They eventually fall in love with either’s e-mail personality. Interestingly, when ever they actually meet, they fail to recognize each other.
The Full Story:
Kathy owns ’Shop around the corner’ - a small children bookshop which has been around the corner since 42 years. Though old fashioned and high priced, the shop owner and employees take pride in their real passion in children books. However, The shop starts losing customers as soon as the the ’Fox books’ chain of bookstores (owned by ’Joe Fox’) opens a new store in the same locality. The children books ’Fox books’ are much cheaper and the environment is more modern. Joe is more of a Business savvy entrepreneur than a bookshop owner. Naturally, Joe’s hi-fi marketing skills pull down Kathy’s small scale home business.
So begins, a rivalry between Kathy and Joe. Kathy is prejudiced that Joe is insensitive, glib tongued and money minded. Joe thinks Kathy has a nasty attitude. Both conduct hate campaigns over each other. Interestingly, Kathy’s media campaign against ’Fox Books’ was under the encouragement of NY152 *(Joe’s AOL id). Joe as Joe destroys Kathy’s business possibilities. But as *NY152 he offers counseling and support to an email friend with an id *ShopGirl *who is actually Kathy.
The e-mail personalities grow closer to each other. Eventually, the e-mail relationship gains importance over other relationship. Kathy breaks up with her boy friend and Joe walks out of his engagement. A growing apprehension compels them to arrange a meeting. On the day of the meeting, as Kathy waits in the restaurant, Joe who enters in late, sees Kathy and is naturally horrified. To confirm, he opens a conversation with her (without revealing his e-mail identity), only to be severely insulted.
Then, Joe endeavors to make friendship with Kathy. With time, he makes her realize that he isn’t all that bad and that they would have been a great couple had there been no Business rivalry between them. In the end, when Kathy prepares to meet NY152, she desperately wishes that he should be Joe. At the chosen place of meeting, ShopGirl meets Joe while *NY152 *meets Kathy and they kiss.
A word about Nora Ephron:
Nora to a Rom Com (Romantic Comedy) freak is exactly like what Ekta is to a K series TV serial buff. Rom Coms have always been there. But it’s Nora Ephron who re-invented it to the extent of making a genre out of it. She churned out a few unforgettable Rom Coms like *When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle *and this one. Everything about the movie is typically in Nora’s style. Interspersed voice overs, quotable quotes, funny one-liners and pop background music, its immediately identifiable to anyone (like me), who had watched *When Harry Met Sally *umpteen times.
Honestly, it is not right to condemn a YRF produced Indian melodrama while praising a Nora Ephron incubated movie, as both are manufactured products that would in a certain sense appeal the silly romantics like me. The movie is full of western clichés which unlike Indian movies are not the ’to make you cry’ types. Hence, I am ’ok’ with it. However, like many others, the real reason why I love the movie is for the stars!
The Shining Stars:
For yet another time, Meg and Tom are wonderfully themselves and amazingly loveable.
There could be thousands of green-eyed, perfect 10 models, cat walking their way through the Hollywood screens. But there is none who can match the effervescent personality of Meg Ryan. Though blessed with amazing good looks, Meg is not a plastic beauty. She is quite fashionable and her style is slightly weird and surprisingly common. Her duck walk (that peculiar walking style), easy-going goofy smile and amazed cum perplexed cum confused look (all at the same time), they are all so, so, so endearing.
And Tom Hanks! Who wouldn’t like him? He has done it all; sentimental family movies, full time comedies, romantic comedies, children movies, really serious movies and well acclaimed Oscar winning movies. This one should have been a piece of cake for a person of his caliber.
Conclusion: **When Nora Ephron makes Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks meet, the result bound to be an easy hit and *soon-to-be classic *cult movie. And so it is.
A few Unforgettable Dialogues:
ShopGirl: When I’m confronted by someone I get tongue tied and my mind goes blank. Then I spend the rest of the night tossing and turning over what I should have said. For example what should I have recently said to…
[meaning confrontation with Joe]
NY152: I must warn you... when you eventually have the pleasure of saying the thing you want to say at the moment you’re wanting to say it... remorse eventually follows... ’
Kathleen: When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.
Joe Fox: Kevin this is possibly the most adorable creature I’ve ever been in contact with and if she turns out to be as good looking as a mailbox, I would be crazy enough to turn my life upside down and marry her*.
Joe : Sometimes I wonder...
Kathleen: What?
[they stop]
Joe : If I hadn’t been FoxBooks and you hadn’t been the Shop Around the Corner... and you and I had, just you know, met... Yeah. I would have asked for your phone number and I wouldn’t have been able to wait 24 hours before calling and asking, "How about coffee, drinks, dinner, a movie, for as long as we both shall live?"
Kathleen: Joe.
Kathleen: And you and I would have never been at war. And the only things we would’ve fought about would be what video to rent on Saturday night.
Kathleen: Well, who fights about that?
Joe : Well, some people. Not us.
Kathleen: We would never.
Joe :...if only.
Kathleen: I should go.
Joe : Well let me ask you something. How can you forgive this guy for standing you up and not forgive me for this tiny little thing like putting you out of business.
[Kathleen shakes her head no]
Joe : Oh how I wish you would.
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