Yes, I watched another romantic movie. It’s an addiction. But hey, at least I try to give some variety to them. In this edition, we explore 1989’s cult classic: When Harry Met Sally.
The movie starts off with Harry, a pessimistic schmuck, catching a ride with his then-girlfriend’s friend Sally, who are both going to New York to start their lives post-graduation. When stopped at a restaurant while on their journey, Harry says he and Sally will never be friends because men can’t be friends with women. He continues by saying sex gets in the way and Sally is appalled (Harry was clearly coming on to her). Once they arrive to New York, they go their separate ways, never expecting to see each other again. But after several serendipitous encounters and the both of them enduring messy breakups, Harry and Sally break the rule and become platonic friends (I have a feeling you can guess how this ends). I’m not going to lie, I eat up this classic friends to lovers trope. It is by far the most realistic of all the sappy and dramatic ways to find the love of your life, making it possible, even for cynics, to let down your guard for a moment and enjoy a romantic movie.
Casting wise, they do use big names, it just happens to be big names that may have aged out for the younger generation. While we all know Princess Leia, it sometimes slips our mind that she exists as Carrie Fischer. Even more shocking, she plays the best friend, Marie, in this movie! While her role was small I still enjoyed her presence in the film. I also liked her Han Solo, Harry’s best friend, Jess, who was played by Bruno Kirby. Both the guys had thick New York accents and I thought it worked well because there is so much fast, witty dialogue in this movie. Most of that dialogue comes from our male lead, Harry (Billy Crystal). Don’t get me wrong, he’s a smooth talker, great actor, and seems to know what he’s doing in the kissing department (there are multiple up close kissing scenes) but he is not cute. In the beginning of the movie, the two had just graduated college, so to make him look younger they added a toupee to a balding, 40 year old man. It looked great! It also didn’t help that Crystal was 5’7″ while our female lead, Meg Ryan, is 5’8″. I apologize to all the social justice warriors that think we need to dismantle the stereotypes about height, but I think if you saw this movie you’d agree with me. If we can’t give Harry the face, at least give him the body. It makes sense why it took them 10 years to get together, Sally had to get over the fact that her prince charming was more of an under-the-bridge king of guy. However, the whole point of When Harry Met Sally is that their love is based off of friendship and their personalities, so in a way, it is sort of endearing. On to our leading lady, Meg Ryan. It is known that Molly Ringwald was also considered for this role, which leads me to believe they were looking for your 1980s girl next door, and boy did they get it. Meg Ryan does it perfect, because she’s every other girl, until you realize she’s not. She’s beautiful, but she also has little annoying things about her that make her human. These things make her believable. They make her like you.
Overall, I loved this marvelous movie for multiple reasons, the first of them being that it is a slow burn. It is all the more satisfying when they get together when the it takes mulling of torturous thoughts. Second, the New York setting is EVERYTHING. My midwestern heart is convinced that the big apple is the most romantic place on the planet, and I can only dream of the possibilities for love in NYC. Third, the way Sally hates Harry. Harry is upfront and unfiltered, and this often ruffles Sally’s feathers. It’s fun to see them bicker and banter. I hope I find someone who gets under my skin like that. Now, although I am a lover of romantic movies, it doesn’t mean I’m some desperate naïve teenager praying for my Harry to arrive. But I will say that I do find comfort in these movies. This is because the beauty of human connection in our busy world is often under-appreciated. Out of 7 billion people, the statistics are not in your favor when it comes to finding your person. And yet, people do. Chance within the universe constantly amazes me, but when I forget about it, movies like this remind me. If you would also like to be reminded, I’d go watch When Harry Met Sally.
I really liked this post. You did a great job sharing the plot of the movie and I like how you used parenthetical phrases to break things up and add personal anecdotes.