WAITING FOR TOM HANKS

As aspiring but klutzy screenwriter runs smack into the rom-com
situation of her Nora Ephron dreams, spilling coffee on a hunkalicious movie
star.

Annie Cassidy’s mother died when she was in high school, and the
movies the two watched over and over during Annie’s childhood, Sleepless
in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, When Harry Met Sally,
etc., made a lasting emotional impression. As Winfrey’s (Things Jolie Needs To
Do Before She Bites It, 2018, etc.) title states, she’s waiting for Tom
Hanks. Almost literally. She hasn’t had sex since one mistake in high school,
her career consists of writing web content with titles like “The Five BEST
WAYS to Unclog a Toilet” and “Is it Expired? What to Keep and What to
Throw Out,” and her one attempt at blind dating lands her on a date with a
couch surfing runner who doesn’t drink hot liquids. In a coffee shop. But
fortunately a movie shoot is coming to Columbus, Ohio, and her uncle, who has
been her guardian since she was orphaned, was college roommates with the
Spielberg-level-famous director, so whaddya know, she becomes his personal
assistant. Enter leading man Drew Danforth, the hottest man alive, with
washboard abs and golden-flecked eyes to prove it. Unfortunately, Annie has
read that he’s a shallow prankster and misinterprets his kindly jokes when she
literally spills coffee all over him during their meet-cute. So there are
“obstacles,” if they are hard to take seriously, though one involving
a gossip site, a missent text message, and a description of Drew’s private
parts is pretty impressive. Just try to resist falling in love with this guy,
who turns out to be fully Hanks-ian. The deluge of rom-com trivia on Annie’s
path to happiness will send you on a Netflix spree, and there’s a great indie
music playlist and jokes for D&D enthusiasts sprinkled along the way as
well.