by Filmgirl37

Created on: May 24, 2009   Last Updated: June 21, 2009

"Mail's" Spartan Sets Aptly Send the Audience Where It Belongs: Consumed in Its Characters

Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) and Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) are one of the two people in the world getting fired for playing solitaire (and falling in love) on-line. Nevertheless, "You've Got Mail" is in no way your ordinary romantic comedy. Though it's camera work (specifically the panning in the opening scene) is a bit choppy in spots, the writers, producers and directors made an excellent choice in that "Mail's" spartan sets put the focus right where it belongs-on the story between these two will-be lovers. Kathleen Kelly's business is failing apart and virtual virtuoso business man Fox (played by Hanks) is all-too-happy to help her on the road to her and her business's recovery. And the story that unfolds- while some may say common- is refreshingly innocent and fun for all ages.

Ryan's character-Kelly-is an extremely relatable and confident woman who is in no way sappy (as she appears in "When Harry Met Sally") or in need of being saved by Hank's character Fox. Together they might disprove that men and women are actually from different planets and doubless they will do it with witty wisdom and in wonderful (and unmistakable) so East Coast style. Ironic in the movie is the fact that Hanks immediately asks Ryan's character Kathleen if her concerns are love-related and apropos is Kelly's knowledge of Hanks' "love apathy" such that even if they were, she knows to respond to the contrary and bide her time until the big finale.

Set only in hers and his bedrooms and in the out-of-doors, "You've Got Mail" is a realistic exchange between two work-a-holic adults in the modern age-whose "coffee date" is the Internet and whose conversation is everything from wildly witty to flirty and fun. "Mail" is marvelously relatable, more-than-watchable- and by the time the two finally find each other in the park (where, by the way, they pass so closely by one another a few times before) it is no wonder that every audience of every showing of this movie is not jumping up and down for joy as they jump into one another's arms and finally admit their "very" surreal but real feelings for one another.

The musical score and sound effects make the movie-because they make sense. What do I mean by this? Not only is the film flawlessly in tempo and in tandem between picture and sound, but it is all believable. A task that seems so easy when you sit down to craft a tale and yet as the tale progresses to its climax and close can seem so utterly hard to maintain even for the most experienced of filmmakers.

If you are looking for a film that is flawless enough to watch from the front row, than you would be well advised to go to the find a little bit of "Mail" in that mailbox of yours!

Learn more about this author, Filmgirl37.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.