You’ve Got Mail (1998)

Half way through this week and its full of Burlington restaurant reviews and pictures, etc. I wanted to get in a quick movie review to shake things up a bit.  So I decided to go into my tablet and continue working on all the movies I had there.  I was in the mood for some Meg Ryan so here we go…You’ve Got Mail was pretty much my only option.

Director: Nora Ephron

Cast: Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks, Greg Kinnear

Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) owns a little children’s book store which she had passed down to her from her mother.  However, a business threat appears when Fox Books decide to move in down the block  where they still discounted books with larger variety and more accessibility.  Before Fox Bookstore opens, she met Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) who didn’t reveal his identity immediately until later on.  With this, they both provoked each other to be their worst selves as Kathleen fights to save her business.  On the side, she also has an unknown identity online friend who she pours her heart out to in emails until Joe realizes that the rival she saw in Kathleen was actually the same charming woman he was talking to online.

Destiny, fate, love-hate relationship hidden behind an unknown relationship sort of story seems to be very normal and cliche.  This movie has a lot of cheesy and generic moments but for me and the amount of romantic comedies I’ve watched in the last 5 years, everything gets predictable after a while.

What really did it for me in this one was the actors themselves.  The cast was fantastic.  Meg Ryan is charming as always in the role of Kathleen Kelly.  I love her casual and carefree but slightly shy and fear of expressing herself type of character.  We see her character progress until the guidance of her online friend how to stand up for herself.  The character’s emotions and passion for her career made me get attached to her side of the story.  Meg Ryan is definitely an actress I adore.  I’ve said it before in my movie review back in February of French Kiss.  I think even I started falling in love with the characters she plays, the charm that she carries is just amazing.

I’ve rarely seen Tom Hanks doing romantic comedies and after looking at his list of movies that he’s done, he hasn’t really done any except for Sleepless in Seattle.  I only remember glimpses of that movie since I saw it when I was younger.  Tom Hanks playing Joe Fox made me want to punch his face whenever he engaged into a provoking conversation with Meg Ryan’s character for a good part of the movie.  Then when he communicates with her via email, suddenly he turns into this sweet man.  I call that really good acting.  He made me grow to like his character as we learned a bit more about the life of Joe Fox and as the story progressed.

Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks has such attractive chemistry between the two.  Every time they are on screen together they drag you into their argument or conversation.  Its really pretty awesome how they are just so good at what they do.  Most of the time, good chemistry in a romantic comedy is what makes it a success.

To me, You’ve Got Mail may not be the most original rom-com that I’ve seen, but it sure was fun to watch.  The chemistry between Meg Ryans and Tom Hanks is almost incomparable to any other on screen couple and it leads this flick to be considered a success for me .  It made me crave to want to watch it again even though I had just finished it.

Oh, by the way, this has officially made me go on a mission (my boyfriend laughed at me when I said this) to search up ALL of Meg Ryan’s movies.  For a Meg Ryan fan, I have a lot more of her movies to catch up with.  So the mission is on! If I ever manage it all, I’ll do a marathon or something. Anyone want to join in?

I’ve already talked about Meg Ryan before but Tom Hanks! I’ve actually seen a lot of his movies, not all but some. What is your favorite Tom Hanks movie?