If you are looking for escapism, You’ve Got Mail should be your first port of call. The opening montage alone has become a sort of soothing tonic for me in times of stress — a fail-safe recipe to lull me into a state of calm and, at least for a moment, whisk me away into a world of fantasy.
It goes something like this: as the cheery, nostalgic beat of “Dreams” by The Cranberries picks up, Meg Ryan skips serenely out of her Upper West Side brownstone, gazing contentedly up at the autumnal leaves that line her perfect little street — never has anyone been so happy to walk to work!
As she strolls through her charming little neighbourhood, a cheerful bounce in her step, businesses are opening their doors around her: the bagel shop, the bakery, the pharmacy, the locksmith, the shoe repair, the nut shop. Finally, she makes to her shop — an utterly adorable children’s bookshop that is oh so whimsically named The Shop Around the Corner.
Since You’ve Got Mail‘s release (25 years ago this weekend), the film has only become more and more popular. In fact, in the past few years, the rom-com has found a new cult following. As one of the core films of the social media phenomenon Meg Ryan Fall, You’ve Got Mail has come to symbolise a certain kind of romanticised retro aestheticism. Each autumn, fans tout out stills of a happy Meg Ryan with a pumpkin. In the winter, the stills are swapped out and a wholesome Meg Ryan with a Christmas tree.
Directed by Nora Ephron and starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, the film is actually a remake of the Jimmy Stewart-led Shop Around The Corner, which was in turn a 1940 adaptation of a Hungarian play. While the original saw two bitter enemies falling in love over snail mail, Ephron updates the story for the dawn of the digital age: Kathleen (Ryan), aka ShopGirl, and Joe (Hanks), aka NY152, have been chatting online. The only problem? She runs a delightful children’s bookshop and his family owns Fox Books, the Barnes & Noble knock-off that is determined to put her out of business. When they meet in the real world, unaware that they are, in fact, internet pen pals, they become instant sworn enemies. Joe’s nonchalance about the caviar at a party is the last straw. As they continue to feud in the real world, online, they each help each other with their mysterious “work problems”.