Certain on-screen pairings just work together and each of the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movies shows why audiences love these two together. The duo has made three romantic comedies together combining their winning chemistry with some unique love stories and a good sense of humor. Individually, the two stars enjoyed a high level of popularity in the ’90s, but they especially sizzled when on-screen together. The films that Hanks and Ryan made are still considered iconic romantic comedies today.
Meg Ryan made some even more iconic rom-coms with other leading men and Tom Hanks has made too many great movies to name, but there was something special when these two worked together. It was clear they enjoyed their professional relationships and have each spoken about how well they work together. All the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movies use their star power exceptionally well, however, some of their collaborations were more memorable than others.
The Tom Hanks And Meg Ryan Partnership Explained (In Brief)
When Meg Ryan first got her start in the ’80s, she had a few minor roles, including a stint on the soap opera As the World Turns and a role as Carole Bradshaw, the wife of pilot Goose in Top Gun. However, Ryan didn’t truly break out into the mainstream until 1989’s rom-com When Harry Met Sally, where she co-starred with Billy Crystal. The film was a massive hit, earning a Golden Globe nomination for Ryan and cementing her as a star.
Meanwhile, Tom Hanks started out in horror with the 1980 slasher film He Knows You’re Alone, his breakthrough moment also happened because of an ’80s romantic comedy: 1984’s Splash, where he played a man who falls in love with a mermaid (Daryl Hannah).
Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks first worked together in Joe Versus the Volcano, directed by John Patrick Shanley. However, Joe Versus the Volcano was a box office flop and got mixed reviews from critics, though the film now has a cult following. Despite Joe Versus the Volcano‘s failure, Hollywood saw something in the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan duo and paired them up again.
In an interview with Gary Foster, the producer of Sleepless in Seattle, Ryan explained what she enjoyed about working with Hanks (via TODAY): “He listens; he roots for other people. […] (Hanks) doesn’t like there to be drama. I feel the same way. We’re just really there to have fun, this is supposed to be a creative experience […]” With that in mind, here’s the ranking of every Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movie.
3 Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)
Joe Versus the Volcano was a flop, despite Meg Ryan’s recent success with When Harry Met Sally and Tom Hanks’ hit film Turner & Hooch, and it’s easy to see why. The plot is bizarre: after Joe (Tom Hanks) is told by a doctor that he suffers from a terminal disease called “brain cloud,” he decides to quit his lousy advertising librarian job for a medical company and takes up an offer from an eccentric wealthy man to travel to the island of Waponi Woo and jump into a volcano so the island residents can appease the volcano’s fire god.
The film has a very whimsical tone that doesn’t always work, and the final act of the film, which takes place on Waponi Woo, hasn’t aged well, especially since white men Nathan Lane and Abe Vigoda play two of the islanders. However, Joe Versus the Volcano has a certain charm to it. Meg Ryan plays three different characters in the film: DeDe, Joe’s co-worker at the medical company, Angelica, a self-described “flibbertigibbet” socialite with a passion for art, and Patricia, Angelica’s hardened half-sister who accompanies Joe to Waponi Woo despite being angry that he’s working for her father.
Ryan is utterly charming in all three roles and has chemistry with Tom Hanks every time. The film also has some thought-provoking reflections on what it means to really live life, though there is also an undercurrent of mental health issues that could’ve been deeper explored. It’s definitely not the most exciting or funny movie, but Joe Versus the Volcano still manages to be enjoyable. Despite flopping just as Hanks was becoming a big star, he liked the risk of the movie saying (via Bobbie Wygant Archive) “if you start trying to predict what the audience will or will not believe or buy, well, then you just start playing it incredible safe. And in that case, I probably wouldn’t have done Joe Versus the Volcano.”
2 Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
Sleepless in Seattle reunited Meg Ryan with Nora Ephron, who wrote When Harry Met Sally‘s screenplay. Interestingly, Tom Hanks turned down the movie role that ultimately went to Billy Crystal. Though that potential Hanks and Ryan team-up didn’t pan out, it’s good that Hanks said yes to this project. Sleepless in Seattle, written and directed by Nora Ephron, is an utter delight.
The film focuses on Sam (Hanks), a widower grappling with the recent loss of his wife, and Annie (Ryan), who begins feeling unsatisfied with her relationship after hearing Sam on a call-in radio show (thanks to his precocious son, Jonah, being concerned about his dad’s well-being). Annie starts fantasizing about a man she’s never met and makes it her mission to find him.
Ephron’s script crackles with wit, especially from Tom Hanks’ deadpan character Joe. However, it also has plenty of heart and is a beautiful look at a grieving man who learns how to open himself to love again. While Annie stalking Joe by using a private detective hasn’t aged well and would definitely not be as charming if the genders were reversed, it is understandable how she could be endeared to Sam’s story and wonder about what her life could be like with another man.
Sleepless in Seattle is a very endearing movie, despite the fact that its romantic leads don’t speak to each other until the end. However, thanks to Hanks and Ryan’s performances and Ephron’s great script, that meeting on top of the Empire State building is totally worth it. In speaking about her second collaboration with Hanks, Ryan (via USA Today) remembered the ease of their working relationship, “We’re just really there to have fun, this is supposed to be a creative experience and there’s no reason to get heavy.”
1 You’ve Got Mail (1998)
You’ve Got Mail is a great love letter to New York, especially the Upper West Side where it was set and filmed. The movie is based on Parfumerie, a 1937 Hungarian play by Miklós László that was remade as The Shop Around the Corner, a 1940 film starring Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan. You’ve Got Mail focuses on Kathleen (Meg Ryan), the owner of an independent bookstore called The Shop Around The Corner, and Joe (Tom Hanks), whose family runs a chain of mega bookstores. The two are business rivals that have unknowingly connected with each other online.
You’ve Got Mail works because like Pride and Prejudice, a story referenced by Kathleen throughout the film, it is a classic enemies-to-lovers romance. Even when Joe and Kathleen are bickering, there is still noticeable chemistry between the two of them. However, when Kathleen and Joe become friends, their banter is adorably playful. Whether it’s in real life or through e-mails, the budding relationship between the two characters truly shines.
However, there is more to You’ve Got Mail than romance. There is also some commentary on capitalism. Kathleen is critical of big-box bookstores, though her shop ultimately shuts down because it can’t compete with Fox Books. It’s tragic, but seeing how much Kathleen cares about books and her little independent shop is heartwarming.
Though the premise of meeting on AOL is dated now, however, there are themes that still feel relevant today. In fact, Tom Hanks compared You’ve Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle, finding a common thread of mass media in both movies. He explains that “it comes down to, it’s all an examination of human behavior, the need to connect. And the realities that people project upon people they just heard once on the radio or got an email from.” It is ideas like that which help You’ve Got Mail remain the best of the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movies.
