Diane loves romantic comedies and her favorite is When Harry Met Sally. When Harry Met Sally is 1989 film directed by Rob Reiner and written by Nora Ephron, starring Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, and Bruno Kirby. The movie follows Harry and Sally from the time they meet in Chicago and share a drive to New York City through twelve years of chance encounters in New York City.
When Harry Met Sally features a number of iconic scenes. The most famous is the outrageous restaurant scene where Sally enlightens Harry. The film contains several interspersed segments of older couples discussing how they met. The true stories, gathered by screenwriter Nora Ephron, are reenacted by actors. The final couple interviewed, before the closing credits, is Harry and Sally.
The key scene is a New Year’s Eve meeting between Harry and Sally that makes this movie a perfect choice for this time of year. Are you a fan of When Harry Met Sally? GRADE: A
No blood or violence, no supernatural or other-worldly monsters, no imminent threat of annihilation or Armageddon, no sex or nudity or foul language…yet somehow I kind of like this flick.
Jerry, you have to love the humor of WHEN HARRY MET SALLY. Billy Crystal inserted a lot of funny lines of his own!
With all due respect to your wife I found this somewhat disappointingly flimsy when I got around to seeing it. I didn’t feel anything remotely like chemistry between the leads mostly because I’ve always found Crystal intensely unlikeable. Meg Ryan on the other hand had more than a touch of old Hollywood screen appeal and she pretty much carries the movie on her shoulders.
I never cared much for Ephron’s work. “Sleepless in Seattle” was a bit creepy but nowhere near as romantically tone-deaf as “You’ve Got Mail.” That said, Ephron was practically Billy Wilder compared to the non-talents cranking out those unwatchable Hallmark and Netflix movies (and don’t even get me started on the current romcom/romantasy book boom).
I even have to confess that I feel a touch nostalgic for the era of middling romantic comedies after the ensuing decades of action movies and the mind numbing glut of comic book IP. So no judgement on your wife or anyone else who finds solace in this kind of flick. Hopefully the two of you will curl up with something suitably cozy to ring in the new year.
Byron, I agree with you: Meg Ryan is the key to WHEN HARRY MET SALLY. While this is my wife’s favorite Holliday Movie, I’m a DIE HARD guy…but that’s how I roll!
As you know, this is our New Year’s Eve go-to movie (after TWO FOR THE ROAD). Sorry you don’t like it, Byron, but…TEHO. Yes, at the beginning Billy Crystal is unbearable, but things change. Also, it is sad to remember Bruno Kirby and Carrie Fisher are no long with us. Not a fan of SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE either, but I love this.
Jeff, I have to confess that when I saw SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE I fell asleep. I explained to Diane it was my Sleep Apnea…but you know better.
This is one I feel like I really should like but – not so much.
Also not a fan of You’ve Got Mail (for obvious reasons) and Sleepless in Seattle. Maybe it’s Meg Ryan.
I enjoy Nora Ephron’s essays though and love Tom Hanks.
Happy New Year, everyone!
Beth, Nora Ephron has a sensibility that rubs some people the Wrong Way.
Speaking of Nora Ephron, I know it wasn’t a big hit – and I find it very uneven – but Jackie is a big fan of her MY BLUE HEAVEN, with Steve Martin & Rick Moranis the perfect mismatched odd couple, Steve a career criminal and Moranis the FBI agent out to get him.
Jeff, MY BLUE HEAVEN deserves more attention!
Not a huge fan—but I loved the dynamic between Fisher & Kirby, who are more cynical and world-weary than Harry or Sally. “I will never fight you for that table,” Fisher assures Kirby, referring to a piece of furniture made from, iirc, a wagon wheel. That was a laugh out loud moment for me.
Deb, I laughed at that wagon wheel joke, too! Some guys love that kind of gaudy furniture.
“You made a woman meow?”
I have seen in many times and despite its flaws: Billy is too old and grumpy, Meg too much a princess, I love it. Maybe it is Kirby and Fisher. Maybe it is New York.
Patti, New York City is as much a star of WHEN HARRY MET SALLY as much as Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal.
I have a feeling I’ve seen this but I’m not sure! Maybe I’m confusing it with another movie of the same vibe! Obviously, it didn’t stick with me!
Bob, you are not the Target Audience of WHEN HARRY MET SALLY. But, you might enjoy it as a broad-minded guy…
I did see WHEN HARRY MET SALLY! I barely remember it, but I don’t think I disliked it!
Just checked my notebook from 1989. The movie opened on July 14. We were in England then. We saw it on July 28 after we got home.
Jeff, Diane is a big Meg Ryan fan so I’m assuming we saw WHEN HARRY MET SALLY on the weekend it opened in 1989.
I don’t know when we first saw When Harry Met Sally. But we have watched it on DVD many times over the years. I don’t think Glen likes it as much as he used to but I have fond memories of it.
Tracy, I’m more of an Action/Adventure movie guy, but I think WHEN HARRY MET SALLY is a very good Rom-Com.