As couples live their romantic comedy dreams, and singles find a couch to binge a few of their favorites, Valentine’s Day can feel empty without a bit of fictional romance. The Appalachian’s Arts & Culture desk is celebrating the season of love by rewinding to a different rom-com each day leading up to Valentine’s Day, beginning with “You’ve Got Mail.”
Nestled in the busking streets of the Upper West Side, The Shop Around The Corner, an independent children’s bookstore, finds itself in the shadow of Fox Books, the book chain opening around its corner.
While on an outing with his 11-year-old aunt and 4-year-old half-brother, the result of his father’s complicated marriages, Joe Fox, played by Tom Hanks, stumbles into The Shop Around The Corner.
Ripped out of a book herself, the picture-perfect Kathleen Kelly, played by Meg Ryan, has run the shop since her mother passed away.
Meeting face-to-face, the two’s witty banter leads Kelly to bash Fox Books, insisting her customers will stay loyal. Fox withholds from telling Kelly his last name and finds her optimism almost as childish as her store.
What the two don’t know is that they have previously met in an online chatroom using AOL email accounts.
Under the screen names “Shopgirl” and “NY152,” the two agreed not to share any personal information, other than “NY152” writing about his dog Brinkley. While their online relationship flourishes, the two meet again in person at a publishing event, where Kelly discovers Fox’s last name, after which inevitable quarreling begins.
Without providing too many details, “Shopgirl” asks “NY152” for advice, where he argues she should fight to save her store. With a newfound dislike for each other, the two begin running into one another, seemingly following the same schedules and attending the same third spaces.
Ironically, as they attempt to avoid each other, “Shopgirl” and “NY152” decide to meet for coffee. When Fox peeks through the window and sees Kelly sitting with a copy of “Pride and Prejudice” bookmarked with a rose — their online personas’ agreed-upon symbol — he bickers with her without revealing his online identity.
Believing she had been stood up, Kelly’s mood is dampened, which only worsens when The Shop Around The Corner eventually closes its doors.
This unconventional enemies-to-lovers starts to align with its trope when Fox realizes he is in love with Kelly, ending his relationship with his current girlfriend. Kelly and her boyfriend cordially separate, realizing, however perfect they appear on paper, without a good connection, a laptop is just a glorified typewriter.
Fox regrets causing Kelly to close her doors and apologizes, stating he believes they could have had a good friendship if not for their career drama. Without revealing his identity, Fox and Kelly continue to chat online as the two develop a friendly face-to-face relationship.
Agreeing to meet again, “Shopgirl” anxiously awaits “NY152” in Riverside Park, where she hears a voice calling after a dog, “Brinkley! Brinkley!” As Kelly turns around, she sees Fox come around the corner.
With the instrumental to “Over the Rainbow” by Harry Nilsson playing, Kelly begins to cry as Fox approaches her: “I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be you so badly,” Kelly says.
As the film ends, the camera zooms out, revealing the New York City skyline, leaving the two protagonists kissing with a dog leaping on them: a picture-perfect rom-com shot.
