You've Got Mail Review
by "Neil Smith" (neil AT ytech DOT co DOT za)February 25th, 1999
You've got Mail
Rating: 80 %
Starring: Tom Hanks Meg Ryan Greg Kinnear
Director: Nora Ephron
Based on 1940's 'Shop around the Corner' and a 1949 musical version 'In the good old Summertime', this film has got all the elements freshened up for the 1990's. Nora Ephron conjured up a reunion for Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan since their 1993 sleeper hit 'Sleepless in Seattle'.
Set in the Big Apple, the story tells of two individuals Joe Fox (Hanks) and Kathleen Kelly (Ryan) who get along famously chatting on the internet. They literally sneak around their partners e-mailing each other, having a cyberspace romance. Joe's cyber name is 'NY152' and Kathleen is known as 'Shopgirl'. Joe is a rich man, who is busy opening up a huge bookstore, Kathleen also has a thriving children book shop that was a family business for decades. Joe's huge discount store is sure to close Kathleen's store.
Joe is the first to find out that 'Shopgirl' is actually Kathleen, and he uses this information to manipulate Kathleen. Kathleen is heartbroken that her family business is going down the tubes, and confesses everything to 'NY152'. He even gives her 'Godfatherly' advice as to fight for her rights to survive. When Kathleen actually finds out that Joe is behind the big store opening she despises him at first for what he is taking away from her. She has no security and everything she knew her whole life is gone. Joe feels terrible about this and tries to win her trust and confidence, but he also falls for the person he came to know as 'Shopgirl'.
The movie has a lot of charm and should appeal to even the male audiences. It is a sweet romantic comedy that has two great leading actors. They know what to do with the movie and they execute their task with warmth and confidence. Tom Hanks is really a great actor. He can do both drama and comedy with such ease. Meg Ryan is perfect in this role. I can understand now why she received a Golden Globe nomination for her part. She was much better in this fairy tale, than in 'City of Angels'.The chemistry between Ryan and Hanks was definitely there. Greg Kinnear we all came to know last year as the gay artist in 'As good as it gets' has a minor role in this movie. I think he is actually the only weak point of this movie. They could have done without his role.
Nora Ephron has taken over from Penny Marshall as the best female director in Hollywood. She was also responsible for the so-so 'Michael' not to long ago. She brings forth her ideas with such a clear vision. The emotions and feel of the movie was spot on.The dialogue is funny and witty. The scene where Hanks introduce his family to Ryan in the bookstore was really funny. This is one of the best Valentine's Day movies around, waaayyy better than 'Sleepless in Seattle'. Another thing is, we always get to see the gloomy dark look of New York, not here though. The place is bright and summery. I felt like moving there straight away.
If your two favourite pasttimes is reading books and the internet, you will surely love this movie. After seeing so many violent and disaster movies, it was a nice change of pace. A movie that has warmth and great actors in it. I can understand why it is such a huge hit currently in the US. Like Ryan's character said in the movie, it is great to hear those three words, 'You've got Mail'. I must agree, it is great getting e-mail!!
Graeme Smith
Review courtesy of www.megavideo.co.za as well as www.dvdsa.co.za
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
