You've Got Mail
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: December 18, 1998 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
4
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
VarietyLael Lowenstein
The most successful version yet of this familiar premise. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Warm, smart, and funny!
80
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
The film's mix of romance and reading matter is seductive in its own right, providing comfy book-lined settings and people who are what they read and write. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleSteve Davis
A valentine to the happenstance miracle of lovers and other strangers, a movie that regards modern romance as something that is, ultimately, old-fashioned to its core. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyTy Burr
A perfectly enjoyable star vehicle that does exactly what it sets out to do. [7 May 1999, p.66]
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
A feel-good movie that offers enough comedy and romance to warm the heart without risking a sentimental overdose. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Boasts a collection of oddball characters, some more sharply written than others. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The appeal of You've Got Mail is as old as love and as new as the Web. Read full review
70
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Ultimately achieves that lump in the throat that is the romantic comedy's promised land. Read full review
70
SlateDavid Edelstein
The movie, without seeming to realize it, turns into a romantic parable about the joys of being absorbed by a conglomerate. Read full review
70
TimeGinia Bellafante
Ephron refreshingly stands out as the nation's foremost advocate of mind-meld. [21 Dec 1998, p. 74]
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
This is filmmaking as a minor feat of engineering, the kind where even the gossamer emotions seem like prefab components -- charm, whimsy, serendipity, all so many discs plugged into the hard drive. Read full review
63
San Francisco ExaminerJane Ganahl
Too many questions are raised with no good answers. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
The coincidences that make the destined lovers' paths cross aren't contrived with much finesse, but the characters get in some decidedly clever lines. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Hanks and Ryan are as appealing as ever, and Ephron's fashion-conscious camera gives the action a slickly attractive sheen. Read full review
40
SalonLaura Miller
It's as if the whole movie's on Prozac, only in this case the antidepressants are cuteness and romance. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
In a film about the ruthless corporate destruction of small businesses, it's hard not to flinch at the prominent placement accorded IBM, Starbucks and AOL logos. Read full review
30
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Made me feel like a Christmas goose being fattened for slaughter. Its force-fed diet of whimsy cloyed long before the eagerly anticipated romantic payoff arrived to put me out of my misery.
0
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Takes almost two self-infatuated, smarmy, condescending, cringe-inducingly sentimental hours to reach its pre-ordained conclusion. Read full review
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