You’ve Got Mail(1998)

PG
1h 59m

Release Date: Dec 18, 1998 | Wide

Book superstore magnate Joe Fox and independent book shop owner Kathleen Kelly fall in love in the anonymity of the Internet, both blissfully unaware that he's trying to put her out of business.

Releases

Original Release | Dec 18, 1998

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Box Office Results

Results

Opening Weekend US & Canada:
$18,426,749
Total US & Canada:
$115,821,495
Total International
$135,000,000
Total Worldwide:
$250,821,575

Current Showtimes

Your Location or

(U.S. Only)

Director & Top Cast

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

Deborah Rush

Veronica Grant

Veanne Cox

Miranda Margulies

Bruce Jay Friedman

Vince Mancini

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: DTS,Dolby Digital,SDDS

Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United States

Language: English

Summaries

Plot Summary

Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) is involved with Frank Navasky (Greg Kinnear), a leftist postmodernist newspaper writer for the New York Observer who's always in search of an opportunity to root for the underdog. While Frank is devoted to his typewriter, Kathleen prefers her laptop and logging into her AOL e-mail account. There, using the screen name 'Shopgirl', she reads an e-mail from "NY152", who she first met in a chat-room. As they have agreed not to share specifics about their personal lives, she knows nothing about him other than the name of his dog, Brinkley.NY152 is the screen name of Joe Fox (Tom Hanks). In her reading of the e-mail, she reveals the boundaries of the online relationship; no specifics, including no names, career or class information, or family connections. Joe belongs to the Fox family which runs Fox Books - a chain of "mega" bookstores similar to Borders or Barnes & Noble. Joe is dating abrasive publisher Patricia Eden (Parker Posey).Kathleen, on the other hand, runs the independent bookstore The Shop Around The Corner, that her mother ran before her. The two then pass each other on their respective ways to work, where it is revealed that they frequent the same neighborhoods in upper west Manhattan. Joe arrives at work, overseeing the opening of a new Fox Books in New York with the help of his friend, branch manager Kevin (Dave Chappelle). Meanwhile, Kathleen and her three store assistants, George (Steve Zahn), Birdie (Jean Stapleton), and Christina (Heather Burns) open up shop for the day. Kathleen's assistants worry that the new Fox Books will hurt business, but Kathleen dismisses their concerns.Following a day on the town with his eleven-year-old aunt Annabel (Hallee Hirsh) and four-year-old brother Matthew (Jeffrey Scaperrotta) (the children of his frequently divorced grandfather and father, respectively), Joe enters Kathleen's store to let his younger relatives experience story-time. Joe and Kathleen have a friendly conversation that reveals Kathleen's fears about the Fox Books store opening around the corner, shocking Joe. He introduces himself as "Joe. Just call me Joe," omitting his last name, and makes an abrupt exit with the children.However, at a publishing party later in the week, Joe and Kathleen meet again, both of them being in the New York book business, where Kathleen discovers Joe's true identity. She accuses him of deception and spying, while he belittles her store, earning each other's hostility."Shopgirl" writes to "NY152" asking for business advice, and he urges her to fight back. Frank pens a column in support of The Shop Around the Corner that draws widespread attention, leading to talk show appearances, news coverage, and picketing outside Fox Books. Joe is aggravated by the negative publicity, but his father assures him everything will blow over once the new store opens.All the while, "NY152" and "Shopgirl" continue their courtship, to the point where "NY152" asks "Shopgirl" to meet. Too embarrassed to go alone, Joe brings Kevin along for moral support. He insists that "Shopgirl" may be the love of his life.Meanwhile Kevin, looking in a cafe window at the behest of Joe, discovers the true identity of "Shopgirl." When Joe discovers that it is actually Kathleen behind the name, he is dismayed to find that his pen pal is actually his professional nemesis. He initially walks away, then changes his mind and joins her at the table without revealing his online identity. They clash once again, and Kathleen cruelly insults him, causing Joe to leave in distress. Joe leaves the cafe hurt; Kathleen returns home puzzled why NY152 might have stood her up.Later that night, he receives an email from "Shopgirl", sharing that she finally stood up to an unpleasant person but now feels terrible for doing so. After several attempts to make up a story and realizing that he couldn't lie to her, "NY152" apologizes for "what happened", and assures Kathleen that anything she said was likely deserved.Despite all efforts, The Shop Around the Corner slowly goes under. Kathleen makes the difficult decision to close. Later, she and Frank amicably end their relationship. Kathleen takes a break to figure out her next move, ultimately taking inspiration from her correspondence with "NY152" to write children's books. Meanwhile, Joe realizes his own feelings for Kathleen and slowly builds a face-to-face relationship with her, still keeping his online identity a secret.In a somber moment Kathleen enters Fox Books to discover the true nature of the store is one of friendliness and relaxation, yet without the same dedication to children's books as her independent shop. Eventually, her employees move on to other jobs; as Christina goes job hunting, George gets a job at the children's department at a Fox Books store (Joe later compares George's knowledge of the contents of the department to a PhD) and Birdie, who is already wealthy from investments, retires.Allowing time for their electronic relationship to convalesce, Joe visits Kathleen while she is sick, and for the first time makes a favorable impression. Joe discovers that Kathleen has broken up with Frank, who has moved in with a talk show host (Jane Adams) who interviewed him. This was predated one week by Joe and his uptight girlfriend, Patricia (Parker Posey), who broke up in their apartment building while stuck in the elevator.Kathleen and Joe develop a tentative friendship that blossoms over the course of a few weeks, and they begin to spend more time with one another.During this time, Joe as "NY152" provides careful advice to Kathleen as "Shopgirl," gently encouraging her to explore her real-life relationship with Joe as himself. Right before she is to meet her online friend, Joe confesses his feelings, imploring her to forgive him for their past animosity. Kathleen becomes emotional, hinting that she feels the same way but cannot bring herself to forego her feelings for "NY152".Finally, "NY152" and "Shopgirl" agree to meet for the first time since "NY152" apparently stood her up. Upon arriving at the meeting place, she hears a man's voice calling for Brinkley and sees that "NY152" is, in fact, Joe Fox. Kathleen cries tears of joy and reveals that she hoped it would be him, and they share a kiss.

Storyline

This sweet romantic comedy reunites Sleepless In Seattle stars Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. He's the owner of a bookstore chain; she's the woman he falls for online. Both are unaware that she runs the little shop his company is trying to shut down. — yusufpiskin Joe Fox runs a large book store chain and his latest store is about to open in New York. This will likely put the boutique book store in the neighbourhood, owned by Kathleen Kelly, out of business and makes Fox and Kelly bitter enemies. Though they've never met Fox and Kelly are friends, as they write emails to each other. Due to the anonymity of the internet they have no idea that their deadly enemy is also their friend. — grantss 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. — Deirdre Dear Kathleen Kelly, owner of a little and famous bookstore for children's books, has an affair. Being together with Frank Navasky, a well-known journalist, she betrays him by e-mailing secretly and anonymously with a (also betraying) man whom she met in a chat room. Suddenly, her business gets endangered by the opening of Fox Books discount store just "around the corner". She meets Joe Fox, son of the owner, and soon gets annoyed by his arrogant way of managing business matters. Although getting advice by her anonymous mail-pal, she has to close down her store. But Joe Fox's life suddenly gets out of control when he learns that his anonymous mail-pal is nobody other than Kathleen Kelly. — Julian Reischl <julianreischl@mac.com>