by Josh Sewell
For more than a decade, I’ve occasionally used this column for a series called Catching Up on the Classics. I focus on an iconic film that I either haven’t seen or one that I’ve wanted to write about for a while. Over the years, I’ve discussed movies like Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane, The Apartment, Vertigo, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Do the Right Thing, Halloween and Star Wars.
This time around, I thought I would take advantage of our recent transition to lovely fall weather and tackle one of the all-time great romantic comedies, 1989’s When Harry Met Sally… Directed by Rob Reiner and written by Nora Ephron, the witty, touching film cemented Meg Ryan as America’s sweetheart and improbably transformed Billy Crystal into a heartthrob – for a brief moment, at least.
The story begins in 1977, when freshly minted college graduates Harry Burns (Crystal) and Sally Albright (Ryan) share a car ride from Chicago to New York. They’re basically strangers, even though she’s friends with the girl he’s currently dating, and it’s clear they have almost nothing in common. In fact, they can barely stand each other.
That doesn’t stop them from having sizzling chemistry, however, and any viewer with a basic understanding of pop culture knows this is a case of opposites attracting. That’s because When Harry Met Sally… helped modernize the romcom template (along with Pretty Woman, which would open eight months later) established by genre pioneers like 1934’s It Happened One Night and 1938’s Bringing Up Baby.
But it’s also because Ephron’s brilliant screenplay paints both characters as young and arrogant in different ways (despite some unfortunate wigs meant to de-age the actors a bit). Harry and Sally are smart enough to be successful in the world, but they’re simultaneously too naïve to grasp what’s in store for them a few years down the road.
That’s why Harry can make the boneheaded assertion that men and women can’t be friends because sex inevitably gets in the way. Or why Sally can bafflingly claim the ending of Casablanca is happy – rather than bittersweet – because Ilsa Lund ends up with wet blanket Victor Laszlo instead of the far superior Rick Blaine.
Fast forward a decade, and several failed relationships have dramatically changed the characters’ outlooks on life. After reconnecting though a chance meeting in a bookstore, the two decide to set each other up with their friends (Bruno Kirby and Carrie Fisher, both gone and dearly missed) only to see the pals immediately hit it off and get married a short while later. Despite their differences often getting in the way, Harry and Sally find themselves drawn to one another – platonically at first, but romantically in due time.
Do complications arise from this change in relationship status? Yes. Do they break up because things get too frustrating? Of course. Does one of them give a big, heartfelt speech at 11:59 p.m. on New Year’s Eve that leads to a happy ending, causing viewers to simultaneously laugh and brush away tears? Spoiler alert for a 33-year-old movie: absolutely.
When Harry Met Sally… plays out in a series of highly entertaining vignettes, allowing Crystal and Ryan to add a significant amount of depth and complexity to their characters in a short amount of time. Despite having seen the movie a lot over the years, I’m always surprised when I realize we’ve reached the big finale. At a brisk 95 minutes, it never drags despite Reiner and Ephron making the audience feel like we’ve aged a decade along with Harry and Sally.
Crystal delivers the best performance of his career (although his work in 1991’s City Slickers comes pretty darn close), while Ryan – equally strong – is in peak adorable mode. She proves here why she would be competing with Julia Roberts for the title of romcom queen over the next several years, with iconic roles in Joe Versus the Volcano, Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail, along with other charming, but less classic, movies.
Two of those movies also came from Ephron, and I don’t think it’s an accident that the late writer-director knew how to best utilize Ryan’s strengths. Her comedic timing is so terrific and her acting skills so underrated that audiences seemed to dismiss her attempts to be a “serious” performer. It’s unfortunate: if things had gone another way, I could totally see her killing the kind of roles that Nicole Kidman has been playing in recent years.
However, in hindsight, the most astonishing aspect of When Harry Met Sally… is its part as one of the most astonishing filmmaking streaks in Hollywood history. By the time Reiner made this movie, he’d already directed This is Spinal Tap, The Sure Thing, Stand by Me and The Princess Bride.
Afterward, he’d go on to shoot Misery, A Few Good Men and (after an unfortunate detour with North) The American President, which served as Aaron Sorkin’s trial run for The West Wing. Most filmmakers would kill to have a single classic on their resumé. By my count, Reiner has seven.
When Harry Met Sally... is rated R. (There are no stated reasons from the MPAA, but it contains strong language, sexual content and thematic elements.)
Grade: A
This time around, I thought I would take advantage of our recent transition to lovely fall weather and tackle one of the all-time great romantic comedies, 1989’s When Harry Met Sally… Directed by Rob Reiner and written by Nora Ephron, the witty, touching film cemented Meg Ryan as America’s sweetheart and improbably transformed Billy Crystal into a heartthrob – for a brief moment, at least.
The story begins in 1977, when freshly minted college graduates Harry Burns (Crystal) and Sally Albright (Ryan) share a car ride from Chicago to New York. They’re basically strangers, even though she’s friends with the girl he’s currently dating, and it’s clear they have almost nothing in common. In fact, they can barely stand each other.
That doesn’t stop them from having sizzling chemistry, however, and any viewer with a basic understanding of pop culture knows this is a case of opposites attracting. That’s because When Harry Met Sally… helped modernize the romcom template (along with Pretty Woman, which would open eight months later) established by genre pioneers like 1934’s It Happened One Night and 1938’s Bringing Up Baby.
But it’s also because Ephron’s brilliant screenplay paints both characters as young and arrogant in different ways (despite some unfortunate wigs meant to de-age the actors a bit). Harry and Sally are smart enough to be successful in the world, but they’re simultaneously too naïve to grasp what’s in store for them a few years down the road.
That’s why Harry can make the boneheaded assertion that men and women can’t be friends because sex inevitably gets in the way. Or why Sally can bafflingly claim the ending of Casablanca is happy – rather than bittersweet – because Ilsa Lund ends up with wet blanket Victor Laszlo instead of the far superior Rick Blaine.
Fast forward a decade, and several failed relationships have dramatically changed the characters’ outlooks on life. After reconnecting though a chance meeting in a bookstore, the two decide to set each other up with their friends (Bruno Kirby and Carrie Fisher, both gone and dearly missed) only to see the pals immediately hit it off and get married a short while later. Despite their differences often getting in the way, Harry and Sally find themselves drawn to one another – platonically at first, but romantically in due time.
Do complications arise from this change in relationship status? Yes. Do they break up because things get too frustrating? Of course. Does one of them give a big, heartfelt speech at 11:59 p.m. on New Year’s Eve that leads to a happy ending, causing viewers to simultaneously laugh and brush away tears? Spoiler alert for a 33-year-old movie: absolutely.
When Harry Met Sally… plays out in a series of highly entertaining vignettes, allowing Crystal and Ryan to add a significant amount of depth and complexity to their characters in a short amount of time. Despite having seen the movie a lot over the years, I’m always surprised when I realize we’ve reached the big finale. At a brisk 95 minutes, it never drags despite Reiner and Ephron making the audience feel like we’ve aged a decade along with Harry and Sally.
Crystal delivers the best performance of his career (although his work in 1991’s City Slickers comes pretty darn close), while Ryan – equally strong – is in peak adorable mode. She proves here why she would be competing with Julia Roberts for the title of romcom queen over the next several years, with iconic roles in Joe Versus the Volcano, Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail, along with other charming, but less classic, movies.
Two of those movies also came from Ephron, and I don’t think it’s an accident that the late writer-director knew how to best utilize Ryan’s strengths. Her comedic timing is so terrific and her acting skills so underrated that audiences seemed to dismiss her attempts to be a “serious” performer. It’s unfortunate: if things had gone another way, I could totally see her killing the kind of roles that Nicole Kidman has been playing in recent years.
However, in hindsight, the most astonishing aspect of When Harry Met Sally… is its part as one of the most astonishing filmmaking streaks in Hollywood history. By the time Reiner made this movie, he’d already directed This is Spinal Tap, The Sure Thing, Stand by Me and The Princess Bride.
Afterward, he’d go on to shoot Misery, A Few Good Men and (after an unfortunate detour with North) The American President, which served as Aaron Sorkin’s trial run for The West Wing. Most filmmakers would kill to have a single classic on their resumé. By my count, Reiner has seven.
When Harry Met Sally... is rated R. (There are no stated reasons from the MPAA, but it contains strong language, sexual content and thematic elements.)
Grade: A
Reach out to Josh Sewell on Twitter @IAmJoshSewell
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