You should have heard the laughter, the weeping, the squeals of recognition. It's a setting intoxicated with text. The movie celebrates reading and writing every chance it gets. Hanks and Ryan woo each other anonymously, chastely, zipping e-mail messages off to each other in secret . They write about their favorite books.
Hanks lives with a book agent.
Ryan lives with a columnist. Neither really loves their lover. True love blooms in cyberspace, through writing. In the real world, the cyberlovers are mortal enemies. Hanks' Fox Books, a big conglomerate book chain, threatens to drive Ryan's beloved Shop Around the Corner bookstore out of business.