When Harry Met Sally... (1989)

Director: Rob Reiner

Story: Nora Ephron

Cast: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan

Music: Marc Shaiman, Harry Connick Jr.

Time: 96 minutes

Bottom-line: A new, interesting approach to rom-coms

One of the classics of the rom-com genre, When Harry Met Sally… is based on the question “Can a man and a woman ever be just friends?” Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan star in the lead roles, with Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby in the supporting cast.

Can two friends sleep together and still love each other in the morning?

1977, University of Chicago: Graduates Harry Burns (Crystal) and Sally Albright (Ryan) share a drive to New York, where Harry wants to start a career and Sally wants to pursue journalism. As they drive, Harry puts forth a theory that men and women can never be “just friends” because “the sex part gets in the way”, which Sally strongly disagrees to. They part at New York on unfriendly terms. However, 5 years later, they happen to be on the same flight. Each of them has a new partner now. Harry suggests that they be “friends”, contradicting his earlier theory, and they part again, agreeing that they will never be friends. 5 years further down the road, they meet each other at a bookstore, both of them now single again. They decide to be “friends”, and hang out regularly. Does this relationship ever go to “the next level”?

 

Ryan as Sally, and Crystal as Harry (the iconic scene)

The characters Harry and Sally were based on Crystal and Ephron, respectively. Ephron created the structure of the film with a lot of the dialogue based on the real-life friendship between Reiner and Crystal. The numerous bits of dry humour are well-written, and the comic timing is perfect. Ephron went on to win the BAFTA Award and receive an Oscar nomination for Original Screenplay. The film also features in the top 25 positions of the best romances and comedies of the 20^th century, in the lists made by the AFI. The dinner table scene (which Meg Ryan willingly repeated over and over when shooting, just to entertain!), and the customer’s line “I’ll have what she’s having”, have become famous too.

The chemistry between Crystal and Ryan is undeniably powerful. You just know that they are meant to be with each other but the storyline so tantalisingly says otherwise. Billy Crystal plays the calmer (almost emotionless) of the two, with a constant deadpan expression, while Ryan packs in a lot of emotion and energy into her role (again, look out for the dinner scene!). The story is interspersed with shots of various couples (unrelated to the story) narrating the tales of how they met before marriage, which sort of makes the main track stand out in contrast.

Another film that seems to be based on similar lines is 500 Days of Summer, which came in 2009; of course, that storyline is quite different, but the premise is the same. Whether or not you agree with Harry’s principles, and whether or not you think the ending is too tame (you might end up saying, “Of course this had to happen, what’s the big deal?”), the ride you go on is entertaining and funny all the way. Watch the film for the amazing performances by Crystal and Ryan, and Ephron’s script. 

My Rating: 3.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 90%