VIDEO REVIEWS

You've Got Mail (PG)

Warner, rental and DVD retail HH

Writer and director Nora Ephron (When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle), takes the romantic comedy to its natural conclusion. Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks fall for one another over the Internet, unaware that in real life they are enemies. He's the proud owner of a newly opened book superstore while she is the struggling proprietor of a bookshop across the road. The main problem is that Ephron is so convinced of her characters' romantic potential that all plot concerns go out the window. That and the fact that Ryan's self-satisfied cuteness wore off about five years ago.

The Land Girls (12)

FilmFour, retail HH

Rachel Weisz, Anna Friel and Catherine McCormack are the "land girls" called upon during the Second World War to work on a Dorset farm. One by one, they become involved with the farmer's son, Joe, whose heart murmur has prevented him from fighting. The three actresses do their best, but they fail to rise above stereotypes foisted upon them by the script. Their class credentials are measured by the speed at which they will get their knickers off - Ag is the aristocratic virgin, Stella is the sensible middle-class girl, while Prue is the working-class slapper. Entertainment for the empty-headed.

My Best Friend's Wedding (PG) Columbia, retail HHH

Rupert Everett steals the show in PJ Hogan's matrimonial comedy. He plays George, Jools's (Julia Roberts) chief adviser in her plan to sabotage the nuptials of her best friend, Michael (Dermot Mulroney), and his saccharine bride-to-be, Kimmy (Cameron Diaz). Everett sparkles as Jools's faux fiance, though just as their plan comes together, she has a flash of humanity and tries to patch things up. It is interesting to see Hollywood dealing with platonic relationships, though more enticing is Hogan's employment of music - best of all is the group rendition of Dionne Warwick's "I'll Say a Little Prayer".

The Avengers (12)

Warner, retail H

We all knew that Patrick MacNee and Diana Rigg would be an impossible act to follow, but when Warner decided to ban critics from previews, there was a sporting chance that The Avengers might fall flat. Its principal downfall is its attempt at a post-modern perspective. The film is so pleased with its arch script and kitsch aesthetics that the basic tension is absent. Uma Thurman and Ralph Fiennes fail in their attempt to create a sexual frisson, while their English "archetypal" banter will raise your hackles. Even the plot revolves around that perennial symbol of Englishness, the weather.