You've Got Mail

A closer look at the story

Joe Fox owns a chain of huge bookstores and is a ruthless, successful businessman. Kathleen Kelly, meanwhile, is trying to keep her small, cosy independent bookshop afloat against the relentless competition of Fox's giant stores. These two people, on opposite sides in real life, start writing to each other on the internet without knowing each other's names. The warm connection that forms between the two ends of the screen gradually becomes real love. Yet both of them are blissfully unaware that their online soulmate is none other than the rival driving one of them out of business. Nora Ephron directs this 119-minute romantic comedy from 1998, co-written with Delia Ephron, with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks as the leads.