It's the small seaside New England town of Loblolly By The Sea. Book shop owner Helen MacFarquhar (Kate Capshaw) sends her daughter off to camp. She's been emotionally closed and her ex is stiffing her on child support. Janet Hall (Ellen DeGeneres), Johnny (Tom Everett Scott), and Jennifer (Julianne Nicholson) work at her shop. George Matthias (Tom Selleck without his mustache) is the hunky fireman. Helen finds an anonymous love letter which sets off a series of mistaken assumptions.At best, this is a miscommunication sitcom. I'm a little confused about the confusion setup. I'm not sure why Johnny thinks that Helen wrote that letter to him. I don't understand why Janet would think the letter is for her when Helen reveals that she got the letter before her. It's not that compelling. It's not that romantic. It's not that funny. Ellen's slapstick barely cracks a smile. It's more like a jigsaw puzzle of one dimensional characters. It's interesting to see this group of actors although Selleck without his mustache is no Selleck at all. I like these actors but it's a chore to watch.

Helen (Kate Capshaw) owns a bookstore in the sleepy, coastal town of Loblolly by the Sea. Divorced, Helen has a young daughter who is going to camp for the summer, giving mother a bit more freedom. Working at Helen's store are the manager, Janet (Ellen DeGeneres), a man-crazy village-gossip girl who has eyes for the handsome fireman, George (Tom Selleck), and two young college students, Jennifer (Julianne Nicholson) and Johnny (Tom Everett Scott). One day, Helen stumbles across a romantic, tender love letter and she suspects that Johnny has written it for her. Throwing caution to the wind, Helen and Johnny begin a small-time "thing". But, the letter subsequently lands in others' hands, including Janet's, who thinks George has sent it to her, and Johnny's, who imagines Helen has penned it for him. And, on and on the letter goes. But, in truth, George possibly has eyes for Helen and Jennifer has fallen hard for Johnny. The town's museum curator, too, may have a secret love. Will tangled affairs like these ever straighten themselves out? This is a cute movie with a gorgeous setting and capable stars. Each of the main actors gives a pleasing performance, including the addition of Blythe Danner and Gloria Stuart to those mentioned previously. Then, too, the coastal scenery is most lovely, the costumes quite well-chosen, and the photography very nice indeed. There are a few surprises, including a subtle gay plot development, which may not please all viewers. But, for those who love romantic comedies, this one should be included on any list of good choices for the genre.

I must be honest, I like romantic comedies, but this was not what I had hoped for. I thought Ellen Degeneres was having the biggest part, which should have been, because I didn't like the two struggling bed partners. It was awful. Poor Tom Selleck!! He had to act with someone who was that much in the picture while it should have been him and Ellen to be in most of the film. They were the only believable ones. And the only really funny parts starred them, not Kate Capshaw and that Everett guy.. Cool that mummy is coming out of the closet, I thought that was a nice surprise. I'm just glad I saw it on the cable and I didn't pay any money renting it..

I'm a large scarred heterosexual male ex-bouncer, ex-rugby player, and ex-boxer, and I love this movie.It's no "Mystic River." It's a piece of fluff. But there is room in life for fluff, and when that fluff is engagingly shot, well-acted by attractive, likable people, cleverly plotted and full of good dialogue, there's even more room for it.I'm not the biggest Tom Selleck fan. But he's good in this. So are Julianne Nicholson (love her bald head and freckles), Ellen Degeneres, Kate Capshaw and even Tom Everett Scott (That Thing You Do!).The scenery is nice, the mood is upbeat, there's heartache and wistfulness and farce and even a little redemption.Any (male) reviewer who disses this movie is, shall we say, not perfectly confident in his masculinity. In the meantime I'll continue to catch bits and pieces of it without apology whenever it shows up on cable.