I first watched this movie with my parents so many years ago. Romantic comedies are the kind of movies that I usually run from at full speed. They usually come across as movies that are more for women than anyone else. But “When Harry Met Sally…” is one of the few romantic comedies that broke past its intended audience to embrace a much larger audience than it had ever expected to get. It came out in the summer of 1989 (yikes! That’s almost 20 years ago!) when movies like Tim Burton’s “Batman,” “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier,” “Ghostbusters 2,” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child” were expected to reign supreme at the box office. But in the end (despite some exceptions), movies like this and “Dead Poets Society” and “Do The Right Thing” were films that people remember more than anything others. How nice.
I gave my mother the latest special edition of “When Harry Met Sally…” for her birthday back in February, and tonight after several months, she actually took it out of its plastic wrapping for all to watch. Actually, I can’t really get on my mom for that because I myself received movies from them, some of which I have not watched for years after having received them (sorry mom and dad). But anyway, let’s get back on track here. “When Harry Met Sally…” remains one of the greatest romantic comedies ever made. It’s “Annie Hall” for a new generation, full of wonderful performances and fantastic dialogue that we could use more of in the movies made for today.
The day we watched the new special edition of this movie was the same date of my parents’ 40th anniversary. They say they have forgotten how great this movie is. I have not.
The movie is really a most unusual love story in regards to how it starts and progresses throughout the film. We first meet Harry Burns (Billy Crystal) and Sally Albright just after they graduate from college. They end up taking a long car ride from the home away from the real world (college) and into New York where the real world awaits them whether they are ready for it or not. From the outset, it seems like these two cannot stand each other to save their lives. Harry is convinced that men and women can never be friends because “the sex part always gets in the way.” Sally tries to rebuff Harry’s advances and sexist comments by attempting to be more open-minded, but this motivates Harry even more to make clear the truth as he sees it. When they finally reach New York, they part ways as they go their separate paths, thinking they will never see each other again. But we know that’s not the case…
Five years later, we catch up with Harry and Sally as they bump into each other into a flight going to Chicago for business purposes. Things have definitely changed for the two as Sally is involved in a serious relationship with some lawyer named Joe, and Harry is now engaged to be married and is very much in love. The relationship between these two has not changed much from when they first met, and Sally is still turned off by his cavalier attitude towards the opposite sex, even when it seems like it is all going to change. They finally part ways at the airport, thinking they won’t bump into each other ever again…
This brings me to the point that the movie’s screenwriter, Nora Ephron, made about the relationship between these two; they keep meeting up with each other at the wrong times in their lives. The first time when they were on the road and leaving college was the wrong time, and bumping into each other at the airport was also the wrong time. But the third time, which comprises the bulk of the movie, is definitely the most wrong time at all. We catch up with the two as Sally has recently broken up with Joe and says that she is “over it,” and as Harry goes through a painful divorce that seriously shakes him up. These two at this point have no business being in any relationship as they are mourning what they thought they had, but this time a friendship blossoms between the two, and they go from fighting each other to challenging each other to see if men and women can really remain friends even after the sex part gets in the way.
“When Harry Met Sally” was made back in the golden age of Rob Reiner who has since seen his movies (like “The Bucket List”) take a critical nose dive. His direction here is practically flawless as he brings us close up into the two lives of people who couldn’t be more different from each other. Their progression throughout the movie is very believable and feels almost effortless thanks to the truly inspired performances of the two leads, and the beauty of a screenplay by Nora Ephron. Even as it looks like the movie might get a little too broad for its own good, Reiner manages to keep it all together in a movie that is wonderfully romantic and incredibly hilarious. Reiner also populates the movies with short vignettes of absolutely true stories portrayed by actors, which makes you believe that just about anything is possible in the realm of love.
Billy Crystal a lot of times comes across as just Billy Crystal whenever he is in a movie, but he can be a very good actor given the right role. His performance starts off in quite a broad manner, but he goes from being a confident man in love to a man whose pride is seemingly broken forever when his wife leaves him. The pain in his face when he sees his ex-wife with another man while he and Sally are doing karaoke at the Sharper Image store gets to you. Billy’s acting is strong as he makes comes across as a man betrayed and not sure where to place his anger. The character of Harry Burns remains one of his very best roles in a movie to date.
Meg Ryan became a star with this movie and rightly so. No one else could have played the role of Sally Albright better than she could, and she is utterly lovable even when she gives the waiter instructions of how she wants her food that seems almost impossible to remember. You also have to give her almost all the credit for the diner scene, which became one of the all time great moments in film history, as she was the one who came up with faking an orgasm. She shows a lot of range in the movie in going from serious to giddy to heartbroken at a moment’s notice. Granted, this movie pretty much got her stuck in romantic comedies for a longer period than she wanted, but the love affair with Ms. Ryan after this movie did seem unstoppable.
But let’s not forget the great supporting cast in this movie who are every bit as good. Carrie Fisher finally comes out of the “Star Wars” shell that threatened to define her career more than anything else to portray Sally’s best friend, Marie. Carrie’s character has this thing for married men that won’t ever seem to deter her from pursuing despite the odds NEVER being in her favor. She is great as we see her get all excited when she finds one of the men in her index is married, and she makes a mark to not forget him. Then you have the late Bruno Kirby (he is still missed) who plays Harry’s best friend, Jess. When Bruno and Carrie’s characters get together, it is a comedy high point as they ditch their friends for a night alone. Things never do seem to go as planned.
What makes this movie so enjoyable is how examines the question of if men and women can truly be friends, and in the answers it comes up with. This is one of those romantic comedies that can be for both men and women and is not like the shallow romantic comedies today like “Failure To Launch” or “Fool’s Gold” among others. It broke through the perception we had of these kinds of movies and how the audience for it was bigger than we realized at first. It also stands as a testament to unrequited love and how it can finally be requited. We should all be so lucky.
Almost 20 years after its initial release, “When Harry Met Sally” more than deserves its place as one of the best romantic comedies ever made. It’s still a great movie after all these years, and one that is impossible to forget (and I am not just talking about the orgasm scene).
**** out of ****
I gave my mother the latest special edition of “When Harry Met Sally…” for her birthday back in February, and tonight after several months, she actually took it out of its plastic wrapping for all to watch. Actually, I can’t really get on my mom for that because I myself received movies from them, some of which I have not watched for years after having received them (sorry mom and dad). But anyway, let’s get back on track here. “When Harry Met Sally…” remains one of the greatest romantic comedies ever made. It’s “Annie Hall” for a new generation, full of wonderful performances and fantastic dialogue that we could use more of in the movies made for today.
The day we watched the new special edition of this movie was the same date of my parents’ 40th anniversary. They say they have forgotten how great this movie is. I have not.
The movie is really a most unusual love story in regards to how it starts and progresses throughout the film. We first meet Harry Burns (Billy Crystal) and Sally Albright just after they graduate from college. They end up taking a long car ride from the home away from the real world (college) and into New York where the real world awaits them whether they are ready for it or not. From the outset, it seems like these two cannot stand each other to save their lives. Harry is convinced that men and women can never be friends because “the sex part always gets in the way.” Sally tries to rebuff Harry’s advances and sexist comments by attempting to be more open-minded, but this motivates Harry even more to make clear the truth as he sees it. When they finally reach New York, they part ways as they go their separate paths, thinking they will never see each other again. But we know that’s not the case…
Five years later, we catch up with Harry and Sally as they bump into each other into a flight going to Chicago for business purposes. Things have definitely changed for the two as Sally is involved in a serious relationship with some lawyer named Joe, and Harry is now engaged to be married and is very much in love. The relationship between these two has not changed much from when they first met, and Sally is still turned off by his cavalier attitude towards the opposite sex, even when it seems like it is all going to change. They finally part ways at the airport, thinking they won’t bump into each other ever again…
This brings me to the point that the movie’s screenwriter, Nora Ephron, made about the relationship between these two; they keep meeting up with each other at the wrong times in their lives. The first time when they were on the road and leaving college was the wrong time, and bumping into each other at the airport was also the wrong time. But the third time, which comprises the bulk of the movie, is definitely the most wrong time at all. We catch up with the two as Sally has recently broken up with Joe and says that she is “over it,” and as Harry goes through a painful divorce that seriously shakes him up. These two at this point have no business being in any relationship as they are mourning what they thought they had, but this time a friendship blossoms between the two, and they go from fighting each other to challenging each other to see if men and women can really remain friends even after the sex part gets in the way.
“When Harry Met Sally” was made back in the golden age of Rob Reiner who has since seen his movies (like “The Bucket List”) take a critical nose dive. His direction here is practically flawless as he brings us close up into the two lives of people who couldn’t be more different from each other. Their progression throughout the movie is very believable and feels almost effortless thanks to the truly inspired performances of the two leads, and the beauty of a screenplay by Nora Ephron. Even as it looks like the movie might get a little too broad for its own good, Reiner manages to keep it all together in a movie that is wonderfully romantic and incredibly hilarious. Reiner also populates the movies with short vignettes of absolutely true stories portrayed by actors, which makes you believe that just about anything is possible in the realm of love.
Billy Crystal a lot of times comes across as just Billy Crystal whenever he is in a movie, but he can be a very good actor given the right role. His performance starts off in quite a broad manner, but he goes from being a confident man in love to a man whose pride is seemingly broken forever when his wife leaves him. The pain in his face when he sees his ex-wife with another man while he and Sally are doing karaoke at the Sharper Image store gets to you. Billy’s acting is strong as he makes comes across as a man betrayed and not sure where to place his anger. The character of Harry Burns remains one of his very best roles in a movie to date.
Meg Ryan became a star with this movie and rightly so. No one else could have played the role of Sally Albright better than she could, and she is utterly lovable even when she gives the waiter instructions of how she wants her food that seems almost impossible to remember. You also have to give her almost all the credit for the diner scene, which became one of the all time great moments in film history, as she was the one who came up with faking an orgasm. She shows a lot of range in the movie in going from serious to giddy to heartbroken at a moment’s notice. Granted, this movie pretty much got her stuck in romantic comedies for a longer period than she wanted, but the love affair with Ms. Ryan after this movie did seem unstoppable.
But let’s not forget the great supporting cast in this movie who are every bit as good. Carrie Fisher finally comes out of the “Star Wars” shell that threatened to define her career more than anything else to portray Sally’s best friend, Marie. Carrie’s character has this thing for married men that won’t ever seem to deter her from pursuing despite the odds NEVER being in her favor. She is great as we see her get all excited when she finds one of the men in her index is married, and she makes a mark to not forget him. Then you have the late Bruno Kirby (he is still missed) who plays Harry’s best friend, Jess. When Bruno and Carrie’s characters get together, it is a comedy high point as they ditch their friends for a night alone. Things never do seem to go as planned.
What makes this movie so enjoyable is how examines the question of if men and women can truly be friends, and in the answers it comes up with. This is one of those romantic comedies that can be for both men and women and is not like the shallow romantic comedies today like “Failure To Launch” or “Fool’s Gold” among others. It broke through the perception we had of these kinds of movies and how the audience for it was bigger than we realized at first. It also stands as a testament to unrequited love and how it can finally be requited. We should all be so lucky.
Almost 20 years after its initial release, “When Harry Met Sally” more than deserves its place as one of the best romantic comedies ever made. It’s still a great movie after all these years, and one that is impossible to forget (and I am not just talking about the orgasm scene).
**** out of ****
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