History Film / YouveGotMail

** When Kathleen sadly suspects Fox Books will put her shop out of business, she turns to her online pen pal (unknowingly turning to the very man who's threatening her business). In turn, Joe adds to the dramatic irony by offering his own competitor metaphorical teeth to [[TheDogBiteBack bite back with]] (in the form of "taking it to the mattresses").
** Later, when Joe has learned Kathleen's identity, he's tempted to ditch her without coming to the outing they arranged, but instead decides to stick around to provoke her. Throughout the conversation, he drops tiny hints that he's her mysterious online friend. Not catching his drift, Kathleen continually defends the honor of the man she loves, ''to his face''. Though it quickly turns poignant when she insults Joe with an [[KickTheDog especially burning retort]], not knowing she's deeply hurt the one person she would never say it to.

* AmbiguouslyBi: Gillian eventually runs off with the nanny, but makes advances to Joe several times beforehand.

''You've Got Mail'' is a [[ProductPlacement two-hour advertisement for AOL]] disguised as a 1998 {{romantic comedy}} featuring Creator/TomHanks and Creator/MegRyan in their third and final screen pairing (after ''Film/JoeVersusTheVolcano'' and ''Film/SleeplessInSeattle''). It was directed by Creator/NoraEphron, who co-wrote the screenplay with her sister Delia. It's loosely based on Miklós Lászlo's theatrical play ''Parfumerie'' (which had previously been adapted into the 1940 film ''Film/TheShopAroundTheCorner'', the 1949 musical film ''In the Good Old Summertime'', and the 1963 stage musical ''Theatre/SheLovesMe'').

The film was a box office hit; its total lifetime gross estimated to $250,821,495. With about $116 million earned in the United States alone, it was the 14th most financially successful film of its year. While the plot was hardly original, the film gathered rather positive reviews due to the chemistry between its leads, its often witty dialogues, quirky supporting cast and somewhat realistic take on the plight of small businesses going under.

** This also happens between Joe and Patricia. While they are stuck in the elevator with other people, some of them say how they will do something meaningful with their loved ones if they ever escape, whether it's phoning their mother or proposing to a loved one. Patricia's wish? She wants laser eye surgery so she won't have to wear contacts anymore. Joe is quietly dismayed to see first-hand that Patricia doesn't understand what's most important in life.

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* [[IsThatCuteKidYours Are Those Cute Kids Yours?]]: Kathleen has this reaction when introduced to Matt and Annabelle until Joe explains that Matt is his baby half-brother and Annabelle is his aunt.

* {{Irony}}: When Joe stands Kathleen up for their first meeting, he considers lying that he was trapped in an elevator -only for it to happen for real later in the movie.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Inverted, it's more like "Both sides are wrong". Joe is simply a entrepreneur and isn't doing anything illegal, but his ''pride'' in taking out competing book stores left and right is unethical. And while Kathleen has good intentions trying to save her mother's bookstore, she's ''prejudiced'' thinking Fox Books is just a greedy, impersonal corporation when in reality it's a decent book store that brings people together.

* FictionalCounterpart: Fox Books is clearly a stand-in for Barnes & Noble, and the way it forces Kathleen's bookshop out of business is based on the real-life 1996 closure of a small Upper West Side bookstore, Shakespeare & Co., following the opening of a B&N branch in the same neighborhood.

* PairTheSpares: Averted. Frank and Patricia get on with their lives, but they do not become a couple, and only Frank is confirmed to be dating someone else after the breakup with Kathleen. There's also not a trace of romance between George and Christina (Kathleen's younger employees). What's more, Joe's grandfather and Kathleen's surrogate mother figure are the same age, but never meet. (See RealityEnsues).

* RealityEnsues: Just because a man and a woman either knows the lead male or lead female of a comedy doesn't automatically mean they are going to somehow meet and/or start dating one another. Frank and Patricia hit it off nicely the instant they meet, but they never date or interact with each other beyond that.
** Kathleen is devastated when she learns that, for all the followers she got, her bookstore still isn't getting as much customers as Fox Books. Sometimes, David doesn't always beat Goliath, and the under dog doesn't always come out on top.

* NotSoSimilar: After Kathleen's bookstore folds, Joe and Patricia have a conversation, where the latter points out that he's about as cutthroat as she is to callously put his competition out of business like that. But while they're stuck in the elevator, we see each character's [[WhatYouAreInTheDark true nature]]. Joe makes it a point to calmly and politely phone the technician, while Patricia so rudely yells at the same technician. What's more, Patricia claims she'll get laser surgery if they get out, indicating she [[DramaticallyMissingThePoint doesn't understand what's important in life]]. Although the two are business-orientated, Patricia doesn't share much with Joe: she only thinks about herself while Joe is considerate of others and wants a mutual relationship.

** The name of Kathleen Kelly's store, "The Shop Around The Corner", is a deliberate reference to the 1940 movie.

''You've Got Mail'' is a [[ProductPlacement 2 hour advertisement for AOL]] disguised as a 1998 romantic comedy featuring Creator/TomHanks and Creator/MegRyan, their third and final screen pairing (after ''Film/JoeVersusTheVolcano'' and ''Film/SleeplessInSeattle''). It was directed by Creator/NoraEphron. Sisters Nora and Delia Ephron co-wrote the script, loosely based on Miklós Lászlo's theatrical play ''Parfumerie'' (which had previously been adapted into the 1940 film ''Film/TheShopAroundTheCorner'' and the 1963 musical ''Theatre/SheLovesMe'', respectively).

* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: While Kathleen and Frank are having a little argument over whether Birdie is crazy or not for claiming [[MakesSenseInContext she personally knew Generalissimo Franco]], the conversation steers to a point where Frank claims he could never date a woman who doesn't vote. This prompts Kathleen to tell him something she never told him before: during an election between two important candidates, she didn't vote. Clearly, she's testing his response. And what does he say? "It's okay, [[InnocentlyInsensitive I forgive you]]." Needless to say, she storms out.

* {{Forgiveness}}: Towards the end, this is brought up when Joe points out that Kate can't hope to truly move on with her life if she can't forgive either him for her mother's bookstore going out of business or her on-line penpal for not showing up.

* NotSoSimilar: After Kathleen's bookstore folds, Joe and Patricia have a conversation, where the latter points out that he's about as cutthroat as she is to callously put his competition out of business like that. But while they're stuck in the elevator, Patricia claiming she'll get laser surgery if they get out actually indicates she doesn't share much with Joe. Although the two are business-orientated, Patricia only thinks about herself while Joe is considerate of others and wants a mutual relationship.
* NothingPersonal: Kathleen emphatically rejects the trope after Fox Books ran her store into the ground:

* PosthumousCharacter: Kathleen's mother, the original owner of the Shop Around the Corner who touched a lot of people's lives, including (fleetingly) that of Joe's grandfather. She was ... enchanting.

''You've Got Mail'' is a [[ProductPlacement 2 hour advertisement for AOL]] disguised as a 1998 romantic comedy featuring Creator/TomHanks and Creator/MegRyan, their third and final screen pairing (after ''Film/JoeVersusTheVolcano'' and ''Film/SleeplessInSeattle''). It was directed by Creator/NoraEphron. Sisters Nora and Delia Ephron co-wrote the script. The Ephron sisters admitted they were updating ''Parfumerie'', a theatrical play by Miklós Lászlo (1903–73) for a new generation. Naturally it is also related to ''Film/TheShopAroundTheCorner'', a 1940 film adaptation of the same play.

''You've Got Mail'' is a 2 hour advertisement for AOL, and also a 1998 romantic comedy featuring Creator/TomHanks and Creator/MegRyan, their third and final screen pairing (after ''Film/JoeVersusTheVolcano'' and ''Film/SleeplessInSeattle''). It was directed by Creator/NoraEphron. Sisters Nora and Delia Ephron co-wrote the script. The Ephron sisters admitted they were updating ''Parfumerie'', a theatrical play by Miklós Lászlo (1903–73) for a new generation. Naturally it is also related to ''Film/TheShopAroundTheCorner'', a 1940 film adaptation of the same play.

* YourCheatingHeart: Gillian isn't exactly the shining paragon of fidelity, as she's lusting for Joe behind her fiance's back, who by the way is [[TangledFamilyTree Joe's father]].

* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: While Kathleen and Frank are having a little argument over whether Birdie is crazy or not for claiming [[MakesSenseInContext she personally knew Generalissimo Franco]], the conversation steers to a point where Frank claims he could never date a woman who doesn't vote. This prompts Kathleen to tell her something she never told him before: during an election between two important candidates, she didn't vote. Clearly, she's testing his response. And what does he say? "It's okay, [[InnocentlyInsensitive I forgive you]]."

* SuddenlySexuality: Despite having been in a relationship with Joe's father for several years and making several advances to Joe, Gillian abruptly runs off with the nanny towards the end of the movie.

* BlackBestFriend: Dave Chappelle (who passed up playing Tom Hanks' best friend before, in ''Film/ForrestGump'').

* [[IsThatCuteKidYours Are Those Cute Kids Yours?]]: Kathleen has this reaction when introduced to Matt and Annabelle until Joe explains that Matt is his baby half-brother and Annabelle is his aunt.