You've Got Mail

You've Got Mail is an American romantic comedy released in 1998 by Warner Brothers Films and given significant media coverage (including a substantial mention in the TV sitcom Friends) leading up to its release. Part of the anticipation for the feature film was the romantic coupling of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, a dynamic employed successfully in other films such as Joe vs. The Volcano and Sleepless in Seattle. The name of the film is the greeting that AOL users hear when they receive new e-mail.

Plot Summary

The plot centers on the romance between two characters in an adaptation of an older movie The Shop Around the Corner (1940) in which two letter-writing lovers are completely unaware that their sweet heart is in fact the co-worker with whom they share a certain degree of animosity.

Related Topics:
The Shop Around the Corner - 1940

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You've Got Mail's interpretation of the theme has the two main protagonists working at different ends of the retail scale in the book industry. Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan), owns the small children's bookstore "The Shop Around The Corner" that her mother ran before her, whilst Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) carries on the family business in the vast chainstore "Fox Books".

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When Fox Books expands into the West Side, The Shop Around the Corner is threatened with commercial obliteration and the two battle it out at loggerheads whilst unknowingly continuing an anonymous relationship with each other through e-mail.

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