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When Jai asked me to talk about my Gateway Score — the score album that really grabbed me as a child and convinced me that scoring films is what I Had to do for a living — I sort of froze at the thought of the assignment.

"A real composer would talk about John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, or Bernard Herrmann," I thought to myself. "When everyone hears my pick (insert Adam Sandler's famous little-boy-sad-face here)... They're all gonna laugh at me!"

While I love action films and I flip out for science fiction on a pretty regular basis, I have always been the drama guy. I love a great drama, especially one that contains strong writing for the characters coupled by great performances. "Jerry Maguire" might be my favorite film of all-time, simply because of Cameron Crowe's ability to create characters of incredible depth which allowed each actor to carve...

Santa Claus, the Clintons' cat, the Easter Bunny and, most optimistically, God are the entities that people write letters to and whose missives end up in the dead-letter section of the post office.

In this Capraesque comedy, Greg Kinnear stars as a guardian angel-type postal employee who tries to answer the "Dear God" letters. It's warm and cozy, and Paramount should win over mainstream hearts with this sweet holiday-set comedy. But it will need to deliver an astute marketing campaign to attract viewers amid the mass of bigger star vehicles. Down the line, "Dear God" would make a perfect cable offering, say, for the Family Channel.

Since George Burns is no longer with us, God himself does not make a personal appearance in this Garry Marshall-directed comedy, which focuses on a breezy con man named Tom Turner (Kinnear). Tom is into petty street scams, ostensibly to pay off his gambling debts. During the Hollywood Christmas Parade he's busted and the judge gives him two options: get a job or go to jail. It's a toughie for Tom, but he lands at the post office, consigned to the dead-letter section. It's a mysterious underground-type place where his co-workers are a colorful and somewhat crazed batch of slackers. Between goofing off, their days are filled with tossing dead letters into bins, and Tom gets assigned the "God" bin.

Essentially, screenwriters Warren Leight and Ed Kaplan's scenario is a modern-day parable of the biblical story of doubting Thomas. In this case, the tale is adeptly transposed to a reluctant postal worker and skeptic of human nature, Tom. Down in that dreary mailroom Tom undergoes an epiphany, overcome by charitable and humane urges. Not surprisingly, it's not an easy transposition and Tom's new outlook is a source of conflict. Coupling an absurdist's sensibility with a humanitarian sensitivity, the screenwriters have spun a breezy yet touching tale. Unfortunately, the narrative is also somewhat diffuse and scattered in its overly busy subplotting. However, director Garry Marshall's savvy dexterity, mixing slapstick with pathos, keeps things at a merry pace. Admittedly, things do get somewhat corny and are clearly borrowed from previous Capra heartwarmers, but these transgressions are minor and don't detract from the film's overall uplifting effect.

Kinnear is strong as the lead, both slippery and solid, while Tim Conway stands out as a burned-out postal employee. In a brief appearance, Nancy Marchand is perfect as a comic foil, a stern, fair-minded judge whose Solomon-like wisdom is put to the test. Director Marshall makes an appearance as the irate postmaster general; as he has done with other similar cameo roles, Marshall is once again highly entertaining as a frenzied and somewhat demented authority figure.

Tech contributions are well-realized, particularly production designer Albert Brenner's slightly cracked Christmas look and Jeremy Lubbock and James Patrick Dunne's jaunty and sunny score.

DEAR GOD

Paramount

In association with Rysher Entertainment

A Steve Tisch production

A Garry Marshall film

Producer Steve Tisch

Director Garry Marshall

Screenwriters Warren Leight, Ed Kaplan

Executive producer Mario Iscovich

Director of photography Charles Minsky

Production designer Albert Brenner

Editor Debra Neil-Fisher

Music Jeremy Lubbock, James Patrick Dunne

Casting Carrie Frazier

Co-producers Ellen H. Schwartz, Kearie Peak

Associate producers Angel Pine,

Karen Stirgwolt

Sound mixer James Webb Jr.

Costume designers Robin Borman,

Lynda Foote, Annie Culotta

Color/stereo

Cast:

Tom Turner Greg Kinnear

Rebecca Frazen Laurie Metcalf

Gloria McKinney Maria Pitillo

Herman Dooly Tim Conway

Vladek Vidov Hector Elizondo

Handsome Jon Seda

Idris Abraham Roscoe Lee Browne

Lucille Anna Maria Horsford

Whispering Wendy Kathleen Marshall

Running time -- 110 minutes

MPAA rating: PG...