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>> High sugar count can't save You've Got Mail

by JOANNE LATIMER

Nora Ephron strikes again. This is the second time Meg Ryan breaks up with her boyfriend on screen, then cashes him in for Tom Hanks. The first time was in Ephron's Sleepless in Seattle and now in the remake You've Got Mail.

Once again the would-be lovers cast off less suitable partners and, after some charming conflict, end up together--wealthy, in Manhattan. You've Got Mail is a fun and watchable movie, but its sugar count gets high.

There are plenty of adorable children, dogs, balloons, grannies and even a speech that sounds like a public service announcement on the benefits of reading to children. There are specific scenes to show us how good Hanks is with children and how nurturing Ryan would be as a mom. Goodwill abounds in Midtown, apparently, where we cheer for the couple to turn their online romance into something more physical.

"She's a pill," says Hanks, of Ryan. The two middle-aged romantics own warring bookstores (Tom's is much more successful) and happen to be anonymous e-mail lovers. As their mystery identities unfold, we watch them fight for the children's book market while hiding their attraction. At night, they confide in their digital pen pals and fall further in love.

The e-mail romance is the most engaging part of the film, appealing to anyone who knows the thrill of exchanging covert e-mail with a like-minded soul. Hanks and Ryan are at their best in scenes with their laptops aglow.

But Ephron banks too heavily on the universal likability of her two lead celebrities and doesn't bother to sketch them in as full characters. What happens when you do that? Her expensive stars get out-acted. The maddening quirks of Joe and Kathleen's partners (Parker Posey and Greg Kinnear) spice up the perky drone of Ephron's leads.

"Why do I do the work that I do? Do I do it because I haven't been brave?" Ryan asks her pen pal. It's a good question for Ephron, Ryan and Hanks. This oh-so-safe and predictable romance does nothing but spin their wheels.

Sure, Ephron has introduced e-mail technology into the narrative, but Mail is still a traditional romance where the girl ends up marrying a millionaire.

You've Got Mail opens Friday, December 18