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You've Got Mail Customer Reviews (67 - 69 of 71 Reviews)

Silly Romantic Fun
I can think of several reasons to dislike this movie, but in spite of those reasons, I keep watching this movie over and over again. My wife and daughter seem to like it even more than I do, so perhaps my dislikes come from my male viewpoint.

Meg Ryan plays third generation independent bookstore owner Kathleen Kelly. When a brand new Fox Bookstore opens around the corner, Kathleen's bookstore is doomed by high volume low cost books. Into Kathleen's bookstore comes none other than one of the owners of Fox Bookstore, Joe Fox (Tom Hanks). Through a coincidence Joe and Kathleen meet on the internet and are soon e-mailing and chatting with each other regularly. At first they do not know who each other is on the internet. Joe then finds out that Kathleen is the women with whom he has been conversing on the internet. Now the fun and silliness begins.

Joe talks in person with Kathleen, but in his early conversations Kathleen dislikes him for what he has done to her bookstore, which she regards as her heritage. But eventually the two start to become friendly. Joe teases Kathleen constantly about the person with whom she is communicating, and falling in love with, on the internet. Kathleen defends her internet partner and becomes more attracted to him daily. Joe gets to play both sides, and of course he then knows all the answers to the questions he asks each way.

My biggest dislike is that I thought Joe should have told Kathleen sooner that he was the person with whom she was communicating on the internet. I saw Joe's hiding of the truth as tormenting Kathleen, which I saw as a bit cruel and manipulative. Unfortunately, the premise of the movie, especially the ending, requires Kathleen not know it is Joe until the very end.

My other dislike is that Kathleen is obviously quite intelligent. Yet she ignores the fact that Joe seems to be so predictive of what Kathleen's internet partner is saying and vice versa. I would have thought that at least Kathleen should have been suspicious, but she does not seem to get suspicious until near the very end of the movie, when it was about time to resolve the deception anyway.

Of course, the whole point of the movie and the reason it works is that Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks have such likable honest charm and natural acting skill that they make you believe this situation could happen. Once you've seen the wonderful, romantic ending you are willing to forgive that the basic premise of the movie is unrealistic. It seems silly to me that there are parts of the movie that make me cringe, and yet I keep watching it over and over because I love the fun and happy with tears ending, which seems to make it all worthwhile. A sure hit with romantics everywhere.

Good Remake of a Classic
You Got Mail is a wonderful movie, but it is hardly an original story. The screenplay is losely based on 1949 classic "In the Good Old Summertime" starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson. Both Garland and Johnson work together in a music store and unknowingly begin to have romantic correspondances. They bicker endlessly, but begin to fall in live even before they realize they had been writting to each other the whole time. There are several scenes directly used in the picture, including the wonderful coffee house scene where Hanks badgers Ryan about her mysterious date. What makes You got Mail work is the sappy romance this duo created in Sleepless..." and carry over to this movie. Very enjoyable, but certainly check out the original if you have the time. (note: I would have loved Meg Ryan trying some of Garlands dance numbers)

3rd Time is a Charm
Sometimes Hollywood does something right in returning to the old fashion love story with layers of reference & meaning. Invite your special other, get the popcorn, & watch this well made chic flick.

This is Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan's third romantic comedy together. The first was "Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)" which was made before the duo were 'Mega Stars' creating a mystical if not mythical movie about losing the American Dream with its dead end jobs & forced neurosis. Many people didn't understand that this movie was created as a farce, therefore it was not a box office hit. Then came "Sleepless in Seattle (1993)" with the ingenious writing & directing of Nora Ephron about a man who loses his loving wife to cancer promising he will never fall in love again while taking care of their only son, moving away from everything that reminds him of his lost. Until one night his son calls a talk radio station asking the radio host Dr Marcia Fieldstone to help his father get over his sleepless nights & find a new wife...this starts the whole story moving with references to an old Cary Grant movie "An Affair to Remember (1957)" creating layers of clever dialog & acting. This process of style is repeated with greater perfection on "You're Got Mail".

At first "Sleepless in Seattle" seems to be the better movie, because of its focused play out of "An Affair to Remember", but if you watch "You're Got Mail" several times, you will start to understand its more subtle & multi references, that it becomes a deeper film.

This time around the references are to the movies "The Godfather (1970)" & "Shop Around the Corner (1940)" intermixed with the newer upper social scene in New York City's 'West Side' (another reference to 'West Side Story'?). Tom Hanks plays Joe Fox (F-O-X) a multi millionaire businessman who views the movie "The Godfather" as the 'I Ching' (a Chinese divination book of wisdom) as the business bible, overtaking his competition without being 'Personal'. He is in a dead end relationship with the cruel, hurried, & self-focused book publisher Patricia Eden acted by Parker Posey. Meanwhile Meg Ryan plays Kathleen Kelly, a cute no-nonsense blonde who inherited her mother's children bookstore 'A Shop Around the Corner'. She is also in a dead end relationship with the Heideggerian (a 20th century German Philosopher against technology) social commentator & typewriter lover Frank Navasky acted by Greg Kinnear. Now for the plot...

Both Joe Fox & Kathleen Kelly, one night on a fluke, met in an Internet chat room 'Over 30' & become modern pen pals via the computer. Little do they realize that they live in the same neighborhood, sometimes walking by each other in the busy streets of New York City. Both are doing well in their business, but Joe Fox's fast growing large modern discount bookstore with cappuccino maker is building a new branch a few blocks away from Kathleen Kelly's small old fashion children's specialty bookstore. Joe Fox meets Kathleen Kelly in real life at her store when taking care of his younger stepbrother & his younger aged aunt. Joe Fox's stepbrother has just learned to spell his last name F-O-X, & Joe tries to hide the fact from Kathleen. Later they both meet at a book publishing party & Kathleen discovers 'just call me Joe' is really Joe Fox (F-O-X). Lines are drawn & later war is declared as Kathleen's business fails. The developing plot & dialog become very humorous especially when Joe discovers his true love from the Internet is really Kathleen when they play out the movie "A Shop Around the Corner". All ends well when Kathleen puts it all together at the last touching scene.

There is more to this movie that makes it a repeatable watcher. If you become tried of it, put it away for a few months & return for added enjoyment.

From a statement from "Sleepless in Seattle": 'One of my wife's favorite.'

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