When Harry Met Sally…

For some reason this 1989 romantic comedy didn’t capture me. In fact, after watching it last night, I couldn’t remember seeing it when I woke up in the morning. No, I wasn’t drinking. When Harry Met Sally… likely was more influential in its time. Many modern romantic comedies borrow immensely from Nora Ephron’s script, yet this Rob Reiner-directed film doesn’t seem to have aged well and, in light of better romantic comedies using the same prototype set up by When Harry Met Sally…, the genre piece just seemed bare and bland.

For the most part, When Harry Met Sally… seems an awful lot like a Woody Allen imitation. The dialogue is heavy and wordy, with lots of characters attempting to be witty and neurotic. Billy Crystal is funny enough, but he never quite represents what a male lead should be and tends to fall short when attempting the dramatic aspects. American’s sweetheart Meg Ryan is a worthy catch for Crystal’s character, but she also seems to be less charming than she should be. The characters sound bright and funny at times, but the authenticity is somehow off-kilter and the initial cuteness doesn’t last for the long haul.

Crystal stars as Harry Burns and Ryan is Sally Albright. The pair meets in 1977 as they drive together to New York City after finishing college in Chicago. On the trip, they converse about sex, gender issues, and dating. Harry claims that men and women cannot be friends because sex will always get in the way. Once they reach New York, the pair splits and five years pass. When Harry and Sally meet again, this time they’re on an airplane and Harry is sitting behind her. Both are in relationships and the dialogue flows as usual between the two, once again departing after deciding that they can’t be friends because of the sex issue.

Five years later, they meet again. This time, both relationships have ended and they’re available. Harry and Sally decide to try the friend thing once and for all, discovering that they can have a close friendship without having sex. This all changes when they have sex, however, and this proves Harry’s theory about relationships. The rest of the movie deals with the fallout after the sexual encounter and the subsequent standard romantic comedy moments.

The best parts of When Harry Met Sally… can be found in between the scenes of the movie, as elderly couples tenderly describe how they met and how they got married. It is refreshing and poignant to see lasting relationships in the medium of film. The bits don’t disrupt the flow of the movie, either, and deliver a nice change of pace from the often depressing and obnoxious behaviour of the two leads. Sadly, Harry and Sally were the main characters in the picture.

Billy Crystal is relatively bland as the depressing and neurotic Harry, seemingly playing “opposite day” with Ryan’s sunny and ridiculous Sally. This is designed to display how opposites attract, in some ways, but also to show the unconditional effects of friendship. Harry and Sally are together for reasons unknown to us, which is part of the magic I suppose. There are many relationships that mirror theirs and we all likely know a couple that seem to be so unsuitable for one another as to be perfectly matched. Unfortunately for the sake of the movie, the lack of chemistry and passion leaves a lot to be desired.

Basically, When Harry Met Sally… is like a sitcom version of a better movie. Think Annie Hall or Manhattan. The city’s the same, the crowd is the same, and the dialogue is essentially the same. The characters discuss the minutiae of everyday life while interloping some attempts at deep meaning, but it seems overly bland with the passage of time. After smarter, better romantic comedies, When Harry Met Sally… doesn’t seem so terrific after all.

Trailer: