This is a story about the long relationship between the New York writer and bibliophile, Helen Hanff and Frank Doel, a British bookseller whose shop is located at 84 Charing Cross Road in London. It is delicious to watch these two accomplished actors (Anne Bancroft and Sir Anthony Hopkins respectively) take us through the association between two people who are rather different in nature, but who share a love of books and, eventually via a two decade correspondence, share the great events which are a part of their daily lives. The lasting and extraordinary friendship between Frank and Helen is brought to life as these two great actors ply their craft in a way that teaches us much about life, caring and love, specifically, the love of books. We learn that books reveal much about the world and those who inhabit it through their contents; and that books can enrich lives during the scarcity suffered in a world war and bring sanity and moral commitment during the social upheaval of the sixties.The performances in this gem of a movie are amazing, with the two lead actors absolutely perfect in their roles and with strong performances from the various supporting actors, including Judi Dench in the role of Frank Doel's wife. The movie is at times hilarious, at times thought-provoking, and always heartwarming. I have to confess I teared up just a bit at the end. If you like plays, literary references, historical period pieces and enjoy detail and ambiance, you will like this movie. If you like Masterpiece Theatre you will like it. If you like biographies you will probably like it. I could watch it just for the historical detail. I definitely recommend it.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

True story of a transatlantic business correspondence about used books that developed into a close friendship.Roger Ebert somewhat humorously wrote, "Miss Fiske was the librarian at the Urbana Free Library when I was growing up. She never had to talk to me about the love of books because she simply exuded it and I absorbed it. She would have loved this movie. Sitting next to her, I suspect, I would have loved it, too. But Miss Fiske is gone now, and I found it pretty slow-going on my own." That Ebert was a funny guy. As he notes elsewhere in his review, this movie is built on a very thin premise. And that is its ultimate downfall. While the movie is fun to watch, it has so little going on: basically two people corresponding about books to order. It's nice for a book lover like myself, but it did begin to wear after a while.

I find it interesting that so many people cannot grasp the notion that there are many kinds of friendships and many kinds of love affairs. So many people miss the point of the film. We've been taught to believe that lovers must consummate a relationship and become a couple. That our friends are only real if we know them in person. This movie is about how people we may never meet can enrich our lives. In the age of internet relationships, this story has a particularly significant voice. I chuckled when I read Roger Ebert's review of this movie. How he found it boring and wondered why Helene didn't just jump on a plane to London. Then what? Destroy his marriage? Uproot her career? Or worse, drag this genteel brit back to 1960s New York? The story is about how people can live comfortable, perhaps even mundane lives, and yet find sweet escape through books and letters. The relationship itself is nothing more than restrained words on paper, and yet it's as real as any relationship either of them have with people they see every day. It's real because they share the same passion for the written word. Yes, it is tragic that they never meet. You want them to, but realistically, you know they can't. In the end, we realize they were lovers the whole time, and their love transcended the physical obstacles that kept them apart.

A literature teacher with a flair for old English-literature starts running low of readable stock, alas! of all places in New York. Even empties public libraries, and there was no IMDb-similar in those days... so she finally finds the address in England to mail-order the delicacies she expected: 84 Charing Cross Road in London. Being a bibliophile myself, then comes the most sublime part of the film, when she receives the first batch of books, previously owned and mastered editions, gosh of all goshes my own emotions as being raised with the best Classics ever printed, is really like kissing your first love! Ahhh, Anne Bancroft awed by the mail order service starts asking for more and rarer editions, but at the same time asks herself about the knowledgeable people behind the business and establishes a Pen-Pal relation with a typical London bookstore, of which I visited many back in 1986. She starts getting involved with their feelings and different way of life, what starts urging her desire to meet these distant friends...Eventually, her professor wage allows for the trip and...Oh, is an end that also happened to me looking for war-surplus stores.