By Jason Ankeny
There's no doubt that "You've Got Mail" is a standard romantic comedy fare. However, the composer George Fenton creates a lightweight score that is just as self-consciously cute and saccharine as the film's co-star Meg Ryan. While it's not exactly boring, it's by no means engaging either. There's no denying the consummate skill at work here, but there's also no mistaking the soullessness of the whole endeavor. This is music as paint-by-numbers, predictable like the sun rising each morning, interchangeable with dozens of other breezy soufflé-light evocations of modern love. Perhaps it's the ideal soundtrack for a lazy day curled up on the couch with a Danielle Steel novel and a cup of Taster's Choice; otherwise, its willful inoffensiveness is completely offensive.
