The girl who is initially too embarrassed to admit out loud that Harry is making a pass at her ("Amanda is my friend," she whispers, an aghast euphemism for "stay out of my pants") has become a woman with no reluctance about telling Harry on an airplane, "You may or may not believe this, Harry, but I never considered not sleeping with you a sacrifice." We know she's eased up some, even as Ryan's outfit and demeanor telegraph in the other direction that Sally is still into Miss Hospital Corners. But, within those broad and sturdy templates, real change takes place: Sally, for example, is a brisker and pithier version of herself in 1982 than she was in 1977. Yes, Sally Albright is consistently optimistic, and Harry is a wisecracking brooder, the guy who always starts a novel on the last page lest he die before knowing what happens. Themselves, but more rewardingly, Billy Crystal as Harry and Meg Ryan as Sally are immediately allowed the opportunity to show us subtly different versions of their characters over the course of a ten-year period. The details of costume, hairstyling, and production design that demarcate these chronological shifts are delightful in and of Timelining gets a little fuzzy) when they cross paths yet againand this time make the smart choice of staying in touch. is as glorious a film about being in love with movies as it is about being in love, period.Īn expert sense of structure is evinced from the very beginning, in the quick transitions between an opening sequence in 1977 when Harry actually does meet Sally, one in 1982 when he re-meets her in an airport, and again in 1987 (or 1988the
#When harry met sally cast movie#
Ephron's script, Reiner's direction, Barry Sonnenfeld's cinematography, and Robert Leighton's editingsometimes weak in continuity edits, but expert at timing and performance controldemonstrate a rapturous love of movie-love, but also a consummate, unabashed enthusiasm for crafting a movie about hearts and wit and badinage and intimacy and destiny. These movies vary in quality, but they all betray some impress of When Harry Met Sally.'s example, and whatever their respective charms, they all suffer for the comparison.įor any worthy company, one has to look all the way back to the triumphant romantic comedies of the 1930s and 1940s, when studios treated this genus of popular cinema as rich and ever-renewable, dignifying it as so much more than a quick, inexpensive way to make a low-budget lark and generate unambitious distractions.
Sleepless in Seattle, While You Were Sleeping, Jerry Maguire, You've Got Mail, Kissing Jessica Stein, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. is probably the humblest in style and construction, yet it has proved among the hardest to replicate. Of all the great American movies of the last 20 years, When Harry Met Sally. I think people, even those who adore When Harry Met Sally., frequently underestimate its ingenuity as storytelling and filmmaking, in part because the movie refuses to ask any credit along these lines. Most of those movies proffered romance and laughs without even trying to formulate a larger idea, and without thinking so creatively about what would entail a great movie, no matter what genre. No serious challengers emerged in the 1990s, despite many obvious attempts to capture similar lightning in dingier bottlessometimes care of the same talents who produced this miracle. was the greatest American romantic comedy of the 1980s, a grim decade for the U.S. Photo © 1989 Columbia Pictures/Castle Rock Entertainment But if you want to continue this discussion, friend or foe, drop me a line! I should probably take it down until I can deliver a fuller assessment. as more than "just" exceptionally sweet and exceptionally funny. Jul 2005: This isn't a proper review so much as preliminary notes toward a defense of When Harry Met Sally. Unending pop-cultural ubiquity is no accident.Įd. Holy Grail of mainstream romantic comedies ever since. The greatest romantic comedy since at least Adam's Rib? Everything works, in every department. Cast: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Bruno Kirby, Carrie Fisher, Michelle Nicastro, Steven Ford, Lisa Jane Persky, Harley Jane Kozak, Gretchen Palmer, Kevin Rooney, Tracy Reiner, Estelle Reiner, Kuno Sponholz, Connie Sawyer, Charles Dugan, Katherine Squire, Al Christy, Frances Chaney, Bernie Hern, Rose Wright, Aldo Rossi, Donna Hardy, Peter Pan, Jane Chung. First screened in Fall 1991 / Reviewed in July 2003 / Most recently screened in December 2013ĭirector: Rob Reiner.
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