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HBO has acquired two literary adaptations from producer John Lesher, both scripted by folks known for the work in features. According to Deadline, Oscar-winner William Monahan (The Departed) will adapt Keys to the City: The Tales of a New York City Locksmith. The book is a collection of fourteen stories about the characters that author Joel Kostman encountered during a twenty-year stint as a locksmith; Kostman is on board as consultant.

Meanwhile, Jenny Lumet (Rachel Getting Married) is hard at work milking a series out of The Three Weissmanns of Westport, Cathleen Schine’s homage to Sense and Sensibility. As the book begins, Betty Weissmann’s husband of nearly fifty years announces he is divorcing her. She then moves to a beach cottage in Westport, Connecticut and reconnects with her daughters, who suffer from their own problems. Hit the jump for full synopses of both novels.

A synopsis for Keys...

Exclusive: Former Paramount Film Group president John Lesher has set up two series projects at HBO as a producer, both with feature writers: Keys to the City, which is being penned by Oscar winner William Monahan, and The Three Weissmanns of Westport, written by Rachel Getting Married scribe Jenny Lumet. Both projects, now in development, are book adaptations. Keys to the City is an adaptation of Joel Kostman’s book of the same name, a collection of 14 stories based on the author's experience as a professional locksmith in New York City. It centers on a New York locksmith and offers a view of people and sights glimpsed beyond the doors he unlocks. The Departed scribe Monahan and Lesher are executive producing, with Kostman on board as a consultant. The Three Weissmanns of Westport, based on Cathleen Schine’s novel, is about a woman's search for meaning after her husband of 48 years walks out on her.

Like the Cathleen Schine bestseller on which it was based, "The Love Letter" is a light Summer Breeze of a romantic comedy. It's pleasant enough, with its share of wittily wistful moments delivered by a capable cast, but as the 89-minute running time might indicate, it just doesn't amount to very much.

And as effective counterprogramming to the "Phantom Menace" juggernaut, it's like trying to divert a charging rhino with a souffle. The DreamWorks release should be able to woo a healthy segment of its targeted female demographic, but they probably won't be falling head over heels.

Set in the fictional, perennially sleepy New England town of Loblolly By The Sea, the picture concerns itself with a mysterious love letter addressed to "Dearest" and signed "Yours" that has seemingly materialized out of nowhere but manages to affect profoundly the lives of all who come across it.

That is particularly the case for Helen MacFarquhar (Kate Capshaw), a single mother whose long dormant passions are suddenly reignited by the discovery of the phantom missive. Believing that she's the "Dearest" in question, Helen is determined to discover the author's identity, and in the process ends up having a little fling with cute, sweet college student Johnny Tom Everett Scott) -- who also sees himself in the letter -- not to mention second thoughts about her lifelong platonic friend, George (Tom Selleck), who has been secretly infatuated with her since high school.

By the time the true identities of both writer and addressee are ultimately revealed, the letter has already managed to alter the emotional states of a number of its readers.

Working from a bright adaptation by Maria Maggenti ("The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love) director Peter Ho-Sun Chan ("Comrades: Almost a Love Story") makes his American debut here with a nice grasp on the quirky characters and light humor.

As the emotionally guarded Helen, Capshaw gives a fine if somewhat one-note performance. There are times when certain feelings aren't sufficiently externalized, leaving key facial reactions hidden behind her large, rectangular glasses.

Playing her glib bookstore colleague Janet, Ellen DeGeneres tosses off the picture's best lines with seasoned aplomb, while Scott's earnest, smitten Johnny and Selleck's vulnerable, gentle George are astutely portrayed.

Also impressive is Julianne Nicholson as the young, strong-willed Jennifer, who also works in Helen's bookstore, and, in all-too-brief roles, Blythe Danner and Gloria Stuart, as Helen's peripatetic mother and grandmother, respectively, as well as Geraldine McEwan as the delightfully enigmatic Miss Scattergoods.

Behind-the-camera contributions are sturdy, although composer Luis Bacalov's swooping violins try a little too hard to evoke unbridled passion. Similarly, the songs -- "I'm In the Mood For Love", "Only the Lonely", "I've Never Been In Love Before" -- cloyingly overstate the obvious.

In that vein, as a lilting breeze carries the letter off toward the sea at the film's end, it's tempting to start humming that old Police hit, "Message in a Bottle".

Fortunately the filmmakers didn't go there.

THE LOVE LETTER

DreamWorks Pictures

A Sanford/Pillsbury production

A Peter Ho-Sun Chan film

Producers:Sarah Pillsbury, Midge Sanford, Kate Capshaw

Executive producers:Beau Flynn, Stefan Simchowitz

Director:Peter Ho-Sun Chan

Screenwriter:Maria Maggenti

Based on the novel by:Cathleen Schine

Director of photography:Tami Reiker

Production designer:Andrew Jackness

Editor:Jacqueline Cambas

Costume designer:Tracy Tynan

Music:Luis Bacalov

Casting:Mali Finn

Color/stereo

Cast:

Helen MacFarquhar:Kate Capshaw

Lillian:Blythe Danner

Janet:Ellen DeGeneres

Miss Scattergoods:Geraldine McEwan

Jennifer:Julianne Nicholson

Johnny:Tom Everett Scott

George Matthias:Tom Selleck

Eleanor:Gloria Stuart

Running time -- 89 minutes

MPAA rating: PG-13...