When Harry Met Sally is one of the greatest, if not the greatest romance movie ever, which tells the rollercoaster love story between Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan). The two meet in 1977 when Harry’s girlfriend at the time partners him with her friend, who is also heading to New York City. The two make conversation on the ride to New York and discover that their opinions and personality contradict each other. Harry is a believer in a theory that women and men can never be friends because “the sex part gets in the way.” This theory sparks dispute between Harry and Sally and carries the theme for the rest of the movie so much so that Harry and Sally can never ever be friends. Once they reach The Big Apple, Harry and Sally depart until they see each other randomly at the airport five years later where Sally is with her current boyfriend, who knows Harry from work. Harry and Sally talk on the flight about their respective relationships and carry on with life until they meet once again, six years later. Harry and Sally by then have left their relationships and they become friends. The ups and downs of their relationship as friends, pave the eventual story of love in this romance film.
The Pros
Harry’s character is what makes this movie great for me other than the love story. His lines and Billy Crystal’s delivery of them creates such an interesting character. He acts as an expert in love but is just as flawed in his love life as everyone else. It also felt like Billy Crystal became Harry in this movie because of how well he acted. I think that was part of the fact that his character was so unique that he had to become him.
The casting was one of the highlights of When Harry Met Sally. Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal did such a great job bickering with each other in what seemed like almost all the scenes. Speaking of scenes, I felt the Giants game scene where Harry was pouring out his feelings to Jess whilst doing the wave every two minutes was such a funny addition.
The love story. The reason this movie is so great isn’t only because of Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, but because of their characters falling in love. I mean, come on, everyone loves a good love story. Harry and Sally go through 12 years of knowing each other before finally marrying each other… talk about waiting until you know, right? Their attempted plutonic care for one another whilst knowing deep inside that they are destined for each other, is what makes this such a good story.
My last favorite part of the movie was the sequencing of the story. It was a nice touch to add the interviewed couples throughout the movie. That choice I believe was a statement that love comes in all forms, since all the couples’ love stories were different from one another.
The Cons
Since I love this movie there are not many cons for it, but I just watched the movie literally right before writing this and I can’t remember the love story very well. It may be a stickler critique but the love story has so many pieces that it’s hard to remember where you are in the big picture while either watching or reviewing.
The last critique is similar to this one, I had trouble following Harry’s lines at times. There are many moments where he talks just a little bit too fast and you have trouble comprehending what he said. Maybe I’m just slow, but I felt that if I couldn’t understand it, then other people might not be able to, and that’s not good.
When Harry Met Sally might also be a movie that people love so much because they know their love life won’t ever be as interesting as Harry and Sally’s. The Shobe Score is a 94.