You've Got Mail

I am torn between which film merits being covered before the Lady and which I should report. The two films Resistance 2011 an Independent film from the Welsh Film Industry and You’ve Got Mail the 1996 Hollywood Romantic film with some serious aspects and which is mislabelled a comedy.

I have settled for You’ve Got Mail because it is intended as entertainment and not be regarded as saying anything fundamental about the human experience and yet I felt it was a closer portrayal of reality than Resistance.

Meg Ryan operates a local community book store for children previously owned and managed by her mother, now departed. She treats her two assistants as friends and confide ads as she does her older bookkeeper. She has a long relationship with an intellectual writer for a New York paper and one day they notice that a local premises is being adapted as the latest of the chain of Fox Book stores who in addition to providing a large and comprehensive range of books tempt the customers in with a coffee and lounge seating inducing the ability to look at the books at leisure before making a purchase.

Fox Books is run by two brothers each married several times to much young women so that the son of one. Tom Hanks has an aunt who is a female child around 10-12 and a male brother who is around five years. five. Tom is a ruthless single minded business man who has no conscience about the local shop and any other competitor out of business. He also has a long term partner with whom he lives and is the book publishing. Meg and Tom find their relationships lack what they believe a relationship should and find they have more in common emotionally and in attitudes with each other when they communicate via a chatline from which they commence to communicate by emails using anonymous mailbox addresses on AOL. While they share intimate thoughts and feelings they agree at the outset not say anything which identifies who they are or what they do.

The two meet for the first time without appreciating they are having the communication when Hanks is asked to look after his young aunt and brother for the day which he spends at their request as local event which is rounded off by going into the store for a scheduled story read session after which there is a purchase of books and exchange of names with Meg giving her full name but Hanks only his Christian.

When she finds out that he is part of the Fox empire she is tongue tied unable to say what she thinks but on line he warns about the reaction after speaking the mind without giving thought to the repercussions. I cannot remember the order in which the two separate from their partners and they agree to meet after she seeks advice about what do as her business is under threat of closure. He stands her up when he realises who she is. She and her partner have an amazing amicable breakup when she realises she is in love with on line stranger and her partner that he is attracted to a TV interviewer after he has written about the fight to save the book shop. Less clear is reason for the break up between himself and the publisher, although she expressed the wish to offer Meg a job after meeting her previously.

Tom moves onto his father’s moored Yacht where he is joined by his father for a few weeks after the break up of his latest marriage. Meg closes the book shop and is impressed by the Children’s section in the new store. Hanks then visits with her favourite flowers on earning she had a bad cold and they become friends and she is torn between this new relationships and her continued good feelings for the on line stranger. They agree to meet and of course she is pleased when the stranger turns out to be Hanks. The reality aspect is that the book store shop[ closed and by down the Book store chain may have gone down the Swanee because of the extent to which people are using on line bookshop buying.