"You've Got Mail" starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan

Great movie, it makes Meg Ryan palatable. It’s the only thing I like her in, she’s grating in everything else. This role was made for her.

I did not see it in theaters but I love the movie. Much better to me than Sleepless, which I constantly watched with my mother as a young gayling, but which I find to be kind of grating.

R2 Rosie was the only thing good about SIS. It’s so Frautastic.

I love how Meg's character ran a bookstore. Bookstores/cafes were really "in" during the 90s before the internet. I worked at Borders for a while when people read books and were more open-minded back then. This movie really signifies the end of that era.

I barely remember the movie but remember being psyched that I got it a Blockbuster the day it was released on video. I had pretty much stopped watching movies in theaters by then.

I loved almost everything about this movie. Sweet, comforting, and full of hope. Perfect Holiday movie.

I thought I was the only one I like it much better than Sleepless in Seattle too. I actually really like Tom Hanks in this movie and that’s why I’ll rewatch it when it’s on - I wouldn’t call it a great performance but something about it gets me.

F-O-X

That caviar is a garnish!

I own the DVD which also includes The Shop Around The Corner as well.

I love this film!

There’s a scene that takes place in a movie theater on the Upper West Side, I was watching YGM in that theater when it premiered. The whole audience erupted in laughter when that scene came on!

I think it was the AMC on 84th and Broadway. We went to Cafe Lalo afterwards. I think it was featured in the movie as well. Fun times!

R11 I had a similar experience seeing "Foul Play" at a revival theatre which was the same theatre in the movie where Goldie Hawn meets her date.

"Don't you just love New York in the fall. Makes you want to go out and buy school supplies."

And I love it how no one remembers that Dave Chapelle played his good buddy in this huge film. Such odd casting but it worked.

R13 pre-bipolar hoodophrenia

More like a TV-Movie but made palatable by the two leads.

R14, Please leave me. I know who you are. You stalk my posts to ostracize me. What you do is malicious and troubling. You want me to go over the edge. And you always add a hint of racism or stereotypical ethnic talk. Please just leave me.

R4 why did Barnes and noble beat them out? Borders was a way better shopping experience it had a really fun vibe

LOVE this movie and have lost count of how many times I’ve seen it. Easily 50+ times. I can practically recite all the dialogue at this point.

It’s one of those movies I stop and watch whenever I stumble upon it while channel surfing… and that happens a lot in November and December, when it seems to air at least once a week somewhere.

I watched them filming it from a brownstone on 84th and Columbus. I am so old.

Meg Ryan was so huge in the 90s and then she disappeared in five minutes. Stardom can be so fleeting.

R20 she destroyed her reputation with her affair with Russell Crow (who also destroyed his reputation for cheating with her and being a colossal asshole). Then Meg destroyed her face with bad plastic surgery and never recovered her stardom.

A couple of amusing ironies embedded in this film:

The first is that Meg Ryan’s character is a frequent customer of Starbucks, a large chain that put a number of independent coffee shops out of business.

The second is that Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks are bookselling rivals who find their happy ending via the Internet, which would ultimately put large and small brick-and-mortar booksellers out of business.

It's an oddly good movie although it is definitely a product of its time.

As a child, this movie was an emotional roller coaster for me.

"I tried having cybersex once but I kept getting a busy signal."

It's bizarre they got Dave Chappelle to subdue his inner badman to play such a bland role.

One of my favorite holiday movies. As others have said, it really is a time capsule for the late 1990s and the beginning of the internet

I don’t like the Dabney Coleman character though, he was weird/funny looking; and the whole he keeps marrying younger wives and reproducing. Blech!

Coleman looked quite old at this point, I've loved him in most things he's done.

I've never seen it but I've seen "The Shop Around The Corner" many times & love that. I was shocked to find that a couple who are friends of my family loved "You've Got Mail" but had never even heard of the original version. I knew that they were a generation or more younger than I, but they were very well educated (both held post-graduate professional degrees) & I considered them my peers -- it was as if they were ignorant of "Hamlet"! Perhaps they were equally horrified to find that I'd never seen the Tom Hanks movie & am not entirely sure who Meg Ryan is....

No Good Ole Summertime?

I couldn't take Margaret Sullivan's voice in SAC

R31, it's Margaret SullAvan & I love her -- really the only wistful female I've ever been able to stand, let alone actually seek out her performances.

R30, I've never seen that either. Not only do I dislike musicals, I disapprove of remakes, which is why I never bothered to watch "You've Got Mail". So I didn't know that Liza Minnelli was in the musical version -- the curiosity value of that might be enough to attract my attention next time it's on TV (though Van Johnson would probably tip the scales back into negative territory again).

Liza is a toddler, held by Johnson, at the end of the movie.

R31 Sullavan

[quote]So I didn't know that Liza Minnelli was in the musical version

She's in it and she's FABULOUS.

Thanks, R33 -- now I don't have to watch it.

I saw this in a theater in its original run too. I'll be in the minority: I hated it. Boy meets girl. Boy drives girl out of business. Girl decides...oh well, I guess? Because this is America and capitalism rules all? What the fuck kind of happy ending is that? Awful awful awful.

I didn’t see it in the theater but I wonder if it looked as bad on the big screen as it always looks on television. For a Hollywood blockbuster with an A-list cast it looks like it was shot on S-VHS. Maybe I’m just catching airings using shitty prints but they’ve been consistently bad over the years

Although I like Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, I've never liked "You've Got Mail" that much. It's a highly superficial update by Nora Ephron of a much better movie, "The Shop Around the Corner." The original film was about ordinary people (OK, Hollywood ordinary) seeking love. YGM is about money. One of the most shocking things about the film is that Hanks's family's corporation puts Meg Ryan's little children's literature bookshop out of business, a store created by her mother and it's not treated as a huge deal. Yeah, she says she really wasn't ever into running a store, she really wanted to write kids' books, but that idea is introduced far too late to be convincing.

Many people also thought the film suffered from the two main characters not working together in the same space every day. In TSATC, part of the humor was the contrast between the romantic, thoughtful letters they wrote each other without knowing each others' identity and the way they bickered at the store.

The ending was rubbish, you'd think they'd tack on the obligatory fantasy ending and Hanks' character would have purchased her bookstore. The final scene set years later as he walks in holding their child and she smiles at them. Fade out.

R38

When it came out, the New York Times critic commented on how beautifully The Upper West Side was shot in the movie. You probably have seen bad prints.

R37

I had the same reaction. Boy destroys Girl's business and it doesn't matter? It also was very regressive. Girl doesn't care about having her financial identity destroyed because she's found love?

It's a movie about two adulterers and manipulators at its core.

R43

I don't remember that either the Hanks or Ryan character was married. They didn't commit adultery.

They had zero problems cheating on their partners, I doubt once they (presumably) married in the future they'd stay faithful. Always someone else on AOL to talk to !

R26

In the original movie, The Shop Around the Corner, the best friend, played by Felix Bressart, is charming and much closer to the main character played by James Stewart. He's a good but timid man with a wife and two kids who's terrified of the shop's owner, played by Frank Morgan (who played the Wizard of Oz). He has a hilarious bit where he rushes out of the room every time Morgan says to the employees: "I just want your honest opinion." But he later risks his neck to stick up for Stewart's character by challenging the boss.

I couldn't but wonder if the You Got Mail filmmakers didn't know what to do with Chappelle because he's Black.

I remember hating this movie….for many of the reasons posted by others.

But the one scene that actually made me MAD was when Meg walks around Tom’s bland, chain store in absolute wonder—like she was a five-year-old seeing Disney World for the first time.

She was a 40 year old woman! We were supposed to believe she NEVER stepped foot in a Barnes & Noble?!

R45

Do you understand the definition of "adultery"? They hadn't taken any vows.

I said they were adulterers at their core. Both the characters were actually pretty immoral , but what else can you expect from mainstream movies.

R11

The scene takes place at the multiplex at 68th and Broadway. I was in that theater to see the movie. Everyone audience laughed. If you lived on The Upper West Side there were lots of recognizable places, like Zabar's.

R13

I certainly do remember Dave Chappelle. I thought it was very poor casting. He and Hanks had no chemistry and he wasn't given much to do (Because he and Hanks had no chemistry?). The part of the best friend is much bigger in the original movie, The Shop Around the Corner.

R49

Two unmarried people leaving their SOs (who don't seem that happy with them, either) bothers you? What are you doing on DL?

Apparently I'm here because you treat me so well, darling.

[quote] We were supposed to believe she NEVER stepped foot in a Barnes & Noble?!

Everything in the movie is overstated. This movie was practically made for low IQ daters and the matinee senior crowd.

You’re supposed to not care they’re emotionally cheating because their partners are insufferable nitwits.

r14 F O X, hunting like a good stalker.

I didn't like this at all. I also thought it was really shitty for Hank's character to remain anonymous in their correspondence once he discovered the identity of Ryan's character. Preferred SiS and When Harry Met Sally.

I've never seen "The Shop Around The Corner" and didn't know this was a remake. I always thought You've Got Mail was just an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, hence the heavy references to it in the film.

I liked the sets and the yuppie taint to it, makes for soothing viewing. New York City transformed into a glossy wonderland.

[quote] yuppie taint

Oh, my!

[quote]yuppie taint

Don't just stare at it, eat it.

I almost did not watch this movie because I can’t stand Meg Ryan but I ended up watching it one night because it was cheap on Amazon. I confess I grudgingly liked it, mainly because it’s an undemanding feel good movie with likable supporting characters, Steve Zahn and that dark haired girl who played the shop help. Greg Kinnear was a cutie back then. I even liked Tom Hanks even though he was the bad guy. It’s pure B.S. formulaic movie but there are worse crap out there.

R58, have you read "Pride and Prejudice", or seen the movie?

Yeah babe, Meg and Tom are Liz and Darcy.

[quote]that dark haired girl who played the shop help

Who became a redhead and stole scenes from Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality

It's a shame what Meg Ryan did to her face. She was cute and pretty. She would have been able to overcome the Russell Crowe drama, but the plastic surgery ended everything.

I BELIEVE I saw it with my sister, who loves Hanks & Ryan. I do know I saw it in its release, anyway. It was okay, and it was nice to see Jean Stapleton. Even in a tiny role. But the scene where they meet in the park at the end was a bit too cringe for me.

I love this movie unapologetically and watch it at least a few times each year (it's always airing on some channel somewhere).

R47, Meg Ryan frequently tried to escape her rom-com stardom and wouldn't stay in her lane. She busted out the staring-in-wonder shtick in Restoration, a film she had no business being in, and many others.

I'm so disappointed the DL is susceptible to her "charms" and crappy rom-coms.

It's a depressing movie. Frau movies and straight romance is depressing.

Why are so many gay men interested in frau movies and straight romance films that the industry is saturated in. Yeah we know straight people are the majority and most stuff is about them. But that's the whole point of why do gay men want to watch so many frau movies and straight romance. Do masculine gay men want to watching straight romance movies etc and want to watch stuff about the lives of females? It's depressing and emasculating to me that this website is 80% frau content or straight/bi stuff.

watch*

r71, it's certainly less depressing than that poorly written, poorly punctuated collection of words you just vomited up at us.

This came out back when people watched most crap that hit the theatres and I was one of those people.

(I was likely motivated by childhood nostalgia for Sleepless in Seattle.)

What I remember most about my cinema experience was that Tom and Meg looked like two bright red boiled hot dogs.

My fave characters are Hanks and Parkey Posey, who is such an apologetic materialistic thot in this. Love her, perfect balance of camp and charm.

[quote]No Good Ole Summertime?

"In the Good Old Summertime" is such a bizarre title for Judy Garland's MGM musical remake, because the story takes place almost entirely at Christmas.

"The Shop Around the Corner" was musicalized twice, first with Judy and then, in 1963, as the Broadway musical "She Loves Me," which has a lovely score by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, beautifully sung by Barbara Cook.

I love this movie. Very cozy and satisfying. I never really cared for Sleepless in Seattle.

I thought it was just bland.

I remember when I saw this not having seen Dabney Coleman in anything for a while and thinking “shit, he really looks old.”

That was 25 years ago. How he is still alive.

I remember dating a Hawaiian guy who’d rented this (via Blockbuster probably) & we started watching it, but began making out & eventually had sex. I never knew how the movie ended (or muddled for that matter, I think we only saw about 20-30 mins).

Blah film. I loved Sleepless in Seattle but there was no chemistry in this dog.

And also a warning not to re-make classic films like The Shop Around the Corner!

[quote]And also a warning not to re-make classic films like The Shop Around the Corner!

Noted.

I was in love with Tom Hanks and even dated a look alike!

The Meg Ryan-Tom Hanks trilogy is the pinnacle of Hollywood romcoms! Gush!

This should have been You’ve Got Male about the Tom Hanks’ character coming to understand that he’s Gay and in love with the nerdy independent bookstore guy.

[quote]t's bizarre they got Dave Chappelle to subdue his inner badman to play such a bland role.

Chappelle's a pretty good actor. Above average for someone who began in standup. Some standups can only do slight variations on their performing persona. I didn't like the Gaga/Cooper ASIB that much, but I thought he was excellent in that. (As was Andrew Dice Clay, another surprisingly good comedian-turned-actor.)

Re: You've Got Mail. I went to see it in 1998 and just remember it seeming to drag on and on. It's not all that long, but the pacing and the thinness of the story made it seem 90 minutes of movie distended over two hours. I'd put it below the famous romcoms of Hanks, Ryan, and Hanks/Ryan that preceded it. But I've never seen it again, so that's a distant memory. I do remember it looking good on the big screen. John Lindley (who I guess is retired now) was a great cinematographer. He shot this and Pleasantville the same year.

I just rewatched it on YouTube, after reading this thread. It's a charming movie....on an old classic. I think what I liked best was the setting.....the beautiful brownstone and its interiors....and the small, independent bookstore. The way NYC was showcased then, with the many neighborhoods. This neighborhood had a sweet bohemian vibe. Meg Ryan always struck me as a quirky, bohemian woman. Very cute then.

R80 Looks to me like you finished you got male.

I first saw it in 2001 in a hotel room. On a trip to NJ for work, I kept switching between the movie and the news, because Timothy McVeigh was being executed that day. The movie won my attention, and we all know what happened to Timmy.

Eventually I rented the dvd and watched the whole thing in one sitting a few months later. And absolutely loved it. Still do. It’s a cute, easy to watch rom-com.

R86

Yes, NYC, especially the Upper West Side, looks wonderful. A NYT critic who reviewed the film at the time talked about what a beautiful fantasy it created.