001: You’ve Got Mail (1998)

You’ve Got Mail was released twenty years ago today, which seemed fit for the first entry of this experiment. The movie tells the story of Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan), who owns a small children’s bookstore she inherited from her mother, and Jim Fox (Tom Hanks), who, with his father and grandfather, run a large chain bookstore. Both live in New York, and despite his company threatening the livelyhood of hers, they anonymously meet online, and *spoiler* fall in love. Surprise, surprise. You’ve Got Mail is the final piece of the magic trifecta of Nora Ephron/Meg Ryan romantic comedies, joining When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle.

I’m always a sucker for the main clichés of romantic comedy, and the opposites attract, they-hate-each-other-then-realize-they-don’t dynamic is strong in this one. Their witty banter and the incredible chemistry of Hanks and Ryan makes me simultaneously believe in the power of love and of the internet. Unlike a lot of rom coms, Fox forgoes the typical grand gesture, and instead, goes for a series of small, thoughtful ones, like delivering flowers when she’s sick and taking her to lunch (realistic and kind things that would actually make you grow to care about and appreciate somebody). But like the number of fantastic romances before it, You’ve Got Mail also includes a cast of quirky friends and coworkers and what I like to call The Declaration.

“You know, sometimes I wonder […] if I hadn’t been Fox Books and you hadn’t been The Shop Around The Corner, and if you and I had just met […] I would’ve asked for your number. And I wouldn’t have been able to wait 24 hours before calling you up and saying, Hey, how about… oh, how about some coffee, or drinks, or dinner, or a movie… for as long as we both shall live?”

Just thinking about it makes me want to tear up. I, 22 years old, watched this today with my mom, 60 years old, and we both sat on the couch and cried for the last 10 to 15 minutes of the movie. He makes The Declaration. She goes to the park to meet her penpal. She’s waiting, and she’s waiting. And then Fox and his golden retriever come up. And she says that she was wishing it was him. And they have their marvelous kiss. And my heart melts.

I still can’t believe that he really just destroyed her bookstore, though. It breaks my heart everytime. But now she can write children’s books, so it’s okay??? It’s not personal, it’s business.