"You've Got Mail" is kind of like the online service whose catchphrase spawned its title. America Online is a decent service, easy to get into, hard to get really excited about. "You've Got Mail" is a decent romantic comedy, easy to get along with the characters, but as predictable as a train schedule. Although the actors seemed very believable (Tom Hanks is looking a little pudgy around the edges these days) the plot isn't, full of the usual romantic hurdles that the audience knows will all be cleared with time. On the other hand, it is probably the first fiction film that shows people using computers like they do in real life. (Despite the suspiciously short modem connection times (a.k.a. Modem Mating Call or Whale Song,) but what audience would want to wait for that?) Also adding to the realism for me was recognizing "Café Lola", a coffee/dessert house in NYC where Mo and I met a friend of hers last Valentine's Day.

"Shakespeare in Love", on the other hand, took my breath away. Not just a revamping of any particular story of the bard, it is instead a whirlwind of Shakespearean themes and ideals set to a modern sensibility. The larger than life yet down to earth characters, the need-a-scorecard twists and turns of the plot, the comedy, the tragedy, the swordplay, the lust, the romance, the love of language-- it's all here. When I first heard of this movie, I was worried it was going to be a "Three Musketeers"-esque (The Walt Disney 1993 remake, a.k.a. "Full House in France with Swords") farce in a historical setting. Fortunately, Tom Stoppard (of "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" fame, another extension of the Bard's work) and Marc Norman have a real gift at bringing what Shakespeare must have meant to his audiences to the contemporary audience. The dialog (full of dropped lines from various works of the Bard, a little annoying at first) catches the cadence of the plays while still sounding natural to modern ears.

"Shakespeare in Love"'s supporting cast really sets this film apart. Each character has his or her own agenda with no one ever getting relegated to a mere "convenient sidekick" role. In particular, Ben Affleck's potrayal of the arrogant but generous actor Ned Alleyn and Rupert Everett's world weary Christopher Marlowe are in-depth performances that never upstage the core of the film.

Both films are revamping of older ideas. "You've Got Mail" follows the plot of "Shop Around the Corner" fairly closely, though taking some liberties with working environments, and neatly putting aside the complexities raised by the main character's already being involved in relationships. "Shakespeare in Love", using Shakespeare for plays within plays and inspiration, is both timeless and extremely modern, with characters and feelings that are both epic and very human. Resolving those contradictions are that film's triumphs. It's one of those films I'm going to look to add to my small video collection.