The lady behind
the magical Sleepless
in Seattle was also the one behind this movie, You’ve Got
Mail. Nora Ephron, who directed and worked on the screenplay for 1993’s Sleepless
in Seattle (which was, to me, one of the best romantic movies of
the ’90s), joined forces with her sister to pen this movie, with Nora
directing.
How they were
able to persuade Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan to come back and play another pair of
love interests is a feat best understood if you see the movie. The pair works
well together, and even though this movie didn’t have the flair or charm
of Sleepless in Seattle, it still brought warmth to my heart.
The story
follows two people brought together by their conflicting rival businesses. As
they fight to keep their businesses on top, they are also pen pals—a fact
unknown to both parties.
They met in a chatroom and decided to remain anonymous, simply sending each
other emails daily.
In the real
world, both run bookstores. Meg Ryan’s character, Kathleen Kelly, runs a
bookstore she inherited from her mother. The store has been in business for
more than four decades, and Kathleen hopes to one day pass it on to her own
child in the future when she has one.
Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) also runs a bookstore, which is a family business. The
difference is, their store has made the Fox family millionaires, and they are
expanding, eating up smaller stores. Kathleen’s store is just a single shop
that her mother kept running by being nice, friendly, and knowing what people
need.
The Fox family
opened a store right beside Kathleen’s and began sucking away her customers
with their discounts and numerous offers.
Kathleen decided to seek help from her online friend—who happens to be Joe Fox
himself—to figure out how she can take down Joe. When they agreed to meet,
things got awkward as one party arrived earlier than the other and decided not
to show up as the expected online pal.
The movie was a
commercial success, but critically, it wasn’t rated anywhere near as highly
as Sleepless
in Seattle. Nonetheless, it was fun seeing this pair work together, and
I just didn’t feel complete watching Sleepless
in Seattle without seeing this one as well. The problem is, watching
this movie now may not work for someone who is used to instant messaging.
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