You've Got Mail (1998)

Two business rivals who despise each other in real life unwittingly fall in love over the Internet.

Director:

Nora Ephron

Writers:

Miklós László (play) (as Nikolaus Laszlo), Nora Ephron (screenplay)

Stars:

Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Greg Kinnear

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 6 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Hanks	...	Joe Fox
Meg Ryan	...	Kathleen Kelly
Greg Kinnear	...	Frank Navasky
Parker Posey	...	Patricia Eden
Jean Stapleton	...	Birdie Conrad
Steve Zahn	...	George Pappas
Heather Burns	...	Christina Plutzker
Dave Chappelle	...	Kevin Jackson
Dabney Coleman	...	Nelson Fox
John Randolph	...	Schuyler Fox
Hallee Hirsh	...	Annabelle Fox
Jeffrey Scaperrotta	...	Matt Fox
Cara Seymour	...	Gillian Quinn
Katie Finneran	...	Maureen, the Nanny
Michael Badalucco	...	Charlie

Storyline

The owner of a large bookstore chain starts putting the owner of a small local bookstore out of business. Meanwhile they have been corresponding over the internet without knowing who either of them are. They can't stand each other in person but over the internet they are very attracted. He finds out who she is but she doesn't know. He starts to like her more but she still hates him. He has to fix it.

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Plot Keywords:

dog | bookstore | internet | new york city | shop owner | 

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Taglines:

At odds in life... in love on-line.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Meg Ryan got her very first computer during the filming.

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Goofs

At a party where Kathleen realizes that Joe is in fact Joe Fox, she is talking to him as he helps himself to the caviar garnish from a plate. He scrapes a section of the garnish from around the edge of the plate. When he does this again a moment later, the caviar garnish is back in the exact same position it was before he first scraped it off.

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Quotes

George Pappas: This place is a tomb. I'm going to the nut shop where it's fun.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits are used with a computer mouse and computer animation. The very end of the film has a blue computer screen background with THE END typed in

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Alternate Versions

Several scenes were originally scripted and partly filmed but not included in the final cut:

• A scene in which Kathleen gets involved with two garbagemen and first gets tongue-tied.
• Extended scenes referring to the roof-top murderer including a love affair with George.
• A scene with Kathleen and Christina talking about falling in love.
• Extended scenes that characterize Patricia: a presentation of an author (the woman in the later elevator scene)
• Extended scenes that characterize Frank: he meets an famous author whom he adores.
• Scenes on Kathleen's and Joe's childhood.
• A scene in which Joe explains Annabel why the Shop Around the Corner had to close.

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: The Lovely Bones/The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus/The White Ribbon (2010)

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Soundtracks

The Instrument Song
(uncredited)
Traditional
Performed by Jean Stapleton, Steve Zahn, Meg Ryan, Greg Kinnear, and Heather Burns

User Reviews

One little comment

This was an all right movie, but can I make just one little observation? If the movie is trying to make a social statement about big book chains with no personality (like Hank's Fox Books) greedily driving the little stores with charm (like Ryan's Shop around the Corner) out of business, how is it that the filmmakers chose to put every other scene in a Starbucks? Starbucks has undoubtedly forced more little shops out of business that any big book chain has.

This doesn't mean that it's not an enjoyabe movie. But it takes something away from Meg's righteous indignation when she woefully closes the bookstore and then goes to suck down a Mochacino.

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros.

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 December 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

You've Got M@il

Filming Locations:

Zabar's - 2245 Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$65,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$18,426,749, 20 December 1998

Gross USA:

$115,821,495

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$250,821,495

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1