VHS Videos: You've Got Mail Video

Average Rating:

Rating: - Sorry to Disagree. This was a HUGE disappointment.
My wife and I loved "Sleepless In Seattle". We were never able to see "You've Got Mail" in the theater, so we just bought the DVD based on the cast and their director. We are sorry we did.

Where "Sleepless" was energetic, fresh and witty, "Mail" was contrived and, frankly, boring. The many plot parallels between "Sleepless" and "Mail" were also disconcerting, which made it difficult to treat this film as a standalone effort. My wife, who has watched "Ever After" about 10 times this week, and a movie I also think was excellent, is certainly a fan of the romantic genre. She was very dissapointed in this film.

I'm surprised I'm saying this about Tom Hanks, but even he was a bit lifeless and sedate in this movie. His character was hardly warm and likeable and rarely his animated, humorous self. Although he found some redemption toward the end, and there were slight moments where his physical comedy and mannerisms shined, there was little if any chemistry between him and Meg Ryan during their scenes. I think all the reviews praising their chemistry in "Mail" must be seeing something that really isn't there. Consider that, in "Sleepless", Ryan and Hanks were together for about 2 minutes in the entire film. Now that they actually have sustained conversations together in "Mail", it became clear that it takes more than a romantic, somewhat clever back story to bring two people together in a convincing manner. The characters in "Sleepless" had much deeper development, and you really cared for Tom, his child, and the loss of his wife. Ryan's curse of a fussy husband-to-be was also cause for concern about her plight, and how she was touched by Hanks' situation via radio. In "Mail", you have no sense of Hanks' or Ryan's character except through their emails, which despite their emotional intimacy, failed to sell you on what motivated these people. I simply did not care about either Hanks or Ryan that much. In "Sleepless", you wanted them to win each other's hearts. In "Mail", you wanted them to just lighten up a bit and be more accessible.

The supporting cast was literally dead on arrival. Jean Stapleton gave the most contribution, but Ryan's other lethargic friends and Greg Kinnear's poorly scripted and directed characterization of someone against technology, were throwaway, uninteresting roles. When Greg brought out the typewriter, I was almost nauseous. What a typical way to reflect someone's fight against technology. It was unfunny and unimaginative.

Basically, there was so much potential for this film, but its legacy of "Sleepless" and the many parallels with that film made "Mail" seem innocuous and slight in comparison. The lack of energy, poor character development, and the feeble romantic connection between Ryan and Hanks dropped this DVD to the bottom of our collection

Here's the story. Kathleen Kelly(Meg Ryan) is engaged in an online relationship with an anonymous identity and they chat a lot and converse about their love life, work, and other problems. Sounds pretty realistic, huh? Well Kathleen owns a small bookstore called The Shop on the Corner and her online buddy is Joe Fox, the owner of Fox Books, that has incidentily moved to the location just down the street. But she doesn't know who that he owns Fox Books from chatting with him online. A little twist in a lighthearted comedy, eh? Well, this is when the plot starts to get predictable, they meet and initially hate each other, but still are friends online, they both break up with their respective significant others, they meet, but only Fox realizes she's the one he's been chatting with online, Kathleen is oblivious. Then they start going out, develop a relationship, and at the end they meet and their is that moment of tenderness. Kinda saw it coming, didn't you? Other than being predictable, this movie is a definite treat for the old VCR. See it and if you like Sleepless in Seattle, buy it!

This is the story of two people who have parallel relationships with each other. On the one hand, each is an entrepreneur in the book business. Hanks plays a character named Joe Fox, whose family owns a chain of very large bookstores. Meg Ryan plays Kathleen Kelly, who owns a small "mom-and-pop" bookstore. Joe has just opened one of his bookstores in the same neighborhood as Kathleen's store, and she's losing business as a result. They quickly become adversaries, and Kathleen is very bitter that she's being forced out of business because of Joe's monopoly over the book-selling industry. Kathleen lashes out at Joe and blames him for her failed business, while he maintains that it's "just business" and isn't personal.

On the other hand, these same two people are having an anonymous relationship with each other over the internet. They met in a chat room and have been writing e-mails to each other ever since. They trade stories about their lives and give each other comfort and advice. They soon fall in love and decide that they should meet. Joe finds out that his e-pal and Kathleen are the same person, and he struggles to decide on whether he should tell Kathleen that he is the one who has been e-mail her.

The two things that sets this movie apart from other romantic comedies (a.k.a chick flicks) is that it has two big-name stars, and both of them have previously acted together in another very successful romantic comedy called "Sleepless In Seattle". Those two things are going to draw people to this movie, and once they've gotten their hands on "You've Got Mail", they'll be pleasantly surprised.