Day 17: You've Got Mail

Day 17: You’ve Got Mail

Oh now I get it… Sneaky dear friend… Sneaky! My best friend who created this project for me put smack dab in the middle of these 31 days the trilogy we have often debated about and I believe was the reason I even asked him for Romantic Comedies as a present in the first place. Watching Meg and Tom over and over again is one of the simplest joys in life, or well, my life at least.

Completing the Meg and Tom trilogy we have You’ve Got Mail. This movie grew on me. I have no idea why I didn’t like it in the theatres but I didn’t. And now I do! Somehow, the older I get, the more I can relate to having both a luddite side and a titillated by the latest technology side. I haven’t seen the original this movie is based on. I’ll have to check that out once this project is complete. But, what I once saw as “eh”, I must now admit is the strongest of the trilogy of Meg and Tom. So here is how You’ve Got Mail checks off on my list:

• Giddy: So there is this moment where she’s ranting about something awful he did, as she does (as I do) and he covers her mouth ever so gently and stops her from saying something nasty: That moment makes me weak in the knees.
• Lie: Tom and Meg are lying to their partners sort of, but the big lie is Tom knows his online partner is Meg and she doesn’t know.
• Big Emotional Outburst: eh… there’s a couple of almost scenes… and let’s be honest, that last scene- ouch – as a romantic I love it, she sees him, she says she hoped it was him, they kiss. But as an actor, that scene SUCKS! I’ve never seen a stiffer reading of “Don’t Cry ShopGirl, Don’t Cry” in my life. But eh hem, you guys don’t care about my acting criticisms, you are here for my ROMANTIC critique… or here to laugh at me… either way… back to the point… there are not that many emotional outbursts.
• Dance Sequence: Again… no… what do Tom and Meg not dance? Honestly I actually can’t think of a scene in a movie where Meg danced… hmmmm…
• Wedding: No.. and maybe that’s why I didn’t initially like this movie. But I’ve really come to appreciate how Meg is dressed in this film, like an adult little girl, I like it so much. It’s sweet.
• Rewatchable: Yes actually, but I didn’t think so way back when it first came out. I’m happy to report, this could be on in the background on a Saturday while I rearrange my closet, happy to know that love is working itself out while I organize.
• Love: Once again we have the destiny love. I love this kind of love.
• Fantasy: Lets talk about a fantasy not yet discussed here but quite evident in most of the Romantic Comedy movies: The “it’s okay” break up. We have a movie where the gal or the guy are with the it-should-be-right- but- really- the- wrong person and before they can run off and fall in love with the right one they must break it off. And every time in these fantastical RC’s, the wrong one practically says THANK YOU for not ruining my life. Now we, here in reality land know that this is absolutely false, that even if the person maybe 20 years down the line might think that, they sure as hell are not going to take it so lightly in the moment. Have any of us had this kind of break up? Seriously? People do not get over it that easy and usually, if you are doing the breaking up, chances are the person you are dumping thought everything was pretty okay (cause if they didn’t – they would have dumped you) and is now really heartbroken. But in the wonderful world of Romantic Comedy’s this is as painless ripping off a bandaid, and as forgotten the moment it is done. I think my favorite breakup of all time is Meg and Greg breaking up and laughing out loud about how they should love each other but just don’t. Ahh… lovely fantasy!
• Journey of the main character: Having just recently uprooted my life and moved to NY (a romantic destination) and now struggling to redefine myself, I can really relate to the journey she is going on. She loses her job that has till that point defined her. She fights like hell for it, but that is futile and ultimately she must learn to find her own way without the comfort of what is familiar.
• Body Count: None. I’ll forgive them because in the first of the trilogy there was a mass genocide of an entire island… so you really can’t go any further than that.
• Music Montages: Yes, there are some. And some lovely pics of NYC throughout. This movie says I LOVE YOU NEW YORK. It shows all of the good, all the beautiful.
• Strong Female: Trying to come out of her mothers shadow and define herself, but in that cute, sweet, not too threatening Meg way!