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Greg Kinnear's limited talents are stretched too thin in his role as a selfish con man who becomes a nice guy after being sentenced to work at the dead-letter department of an L.A. post office. Deciding that it's nicer to help people than rip them off, Kinnear's character leads a band of mailroom wackos in responding to the entreaties of those who write to God for divine help via the mailbox. The film strains to be reminiscent of Frank Capra's populist comedies while also covering a lot of other, far less sophisticated comedy bases. Laurie Metcalf is mostly irritating as a neurotic postal worker who tries to keep the hero out of jail, when it's discovered he's removing dead letters from their basement burial ground. Hector Elizondo does his dignified thing, and Jack Klugman and Roscoe Lee Browne are somewhere in the mix. Tim Conway is the best element, a half-crazed mailman with the only shred of real humanity in this supposedly human tale.
--Tom Keogh
Synopsis
In this comedy, a man trying to turn away from a life of crime starts performing a little larceny in the interest of helping others. Tom Turner (Greg Kinnear) is a small-time con man who makes the mistake of trying to cheat a pair of undercover cops one night. Fortunately for Tom, his case is heard by a lenient judge who orders him to get a straight job and stay out of trouble; if he can stay employed for a year, his conviction will be wiped from the record. Tom is hired at the Post Office and assigned to the Dead Letter Office, where he and his co-workers Rebecca (Laurie Metcalf), Herman (Tim Conway), and Vladek (Hector Elizondo) try to figure out what to do with the sacks of mail addressed to Santa Claus, Elvis Presley, and God. Against orders, Tom opens one of the letters to God and is moved by the sad story of the woman who sent it. He decides to reply and accidentally mails her his pay check; but when he sees how happy the answer made the recipient, Tom and his co-workers start opening more letters and trying to answer a few prayers that would be within their reach -- which leads Tom back to the courthouse again. Director Garry Marshall has a small role as Preston Sweeney. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
