When Harry Met Sally...

Director: Rob Reiner
Screenplay:Nora Ephron
Stars: Billy Crystal (Harry Burns), Meg Ryan (Sally Albright), Carrie Fisher (Marie), BrunoKirby (Jess)
MPAA Rating:R
Year of Release: 1989
Country: USA
When Harry Met Sally... Poster

When Harry Met Sally... is a film about how people meet and fall in love. Whilemany romantic films rely on the concept of love at first sight or the tradition of instant,unbridled passion that simply cannot be blocked by any obstacles, When Harry MetSally... takes its time in exploring the long, sometimes bumpy, and often comicalprocess by which two people might discover they are in love. I say might becauseone of the film's strongest themes is that everybody's romantic paths are different.

This is underscored by the use of short "interview" sequences scattered throughout the filmin which elderly couples tell the quirky stories of how they came to be together. It's awonderful, inspired narrative device that helps turn what could have been a simplisticcontemporary romance into something much deeper. In essence, it fixes the story aboutHarry Burns (Billy Crystal) and Sally Albright (Meg Ryan) into a larger context: The storiesare all unique, but the end product--spending the rest of your life with someone you love--hasuniversal appeal.

Few films are as adept at conveying the essential differences between men and women betterthat When Harry Met Sally.... Although the screenplay is credited solely to NoraEphron, it was, in effect, a collaborative effort between her, director Rob Reiner, producerAndrew Scheinman, and the two actors who play the leads. Much of Harry's character isbased on Reiner's personality, while much of Sally is indebted to Ephron. Perhaps that is whyHarry and Sally feel so real and sympathetic, despite their sometimes exaggerated quirks:They are not so much produced by fiction as they are borrowed from real life.

The narrative of When Harry Met Sally... spans 11 years. It begins in 1977 whenHarry and Sally first meet on an 18-hour car trip from the University of Chicago, where theyhave both graduated, to New York City, where they plan to start their post-college lives. Theyclash immediately: The sunny and upbeat Sally does not understand Harry's dark, cynicalview of life. They disagree on everything from what it means to have great sex to whether ornot Ingrid Bergman's character really wanted to get on the plane at the end ofCasablanca. But, most of all, they disagree on the film's central premise: Whether ornot men and women can be friends and not let sex get in the way. Sally thinks they can;Harry thinks they can't.

Five years pass, and Harry and Sally run into each other again at the New York airport. Sallyhas recently become involved with successful businessman, and Harry is engaged to bemarried. They have each changed some, but not enough that they don't clash once again.

Another five years pass, and once again Harry and Sally's lives cross, except this time it is at aparticularly crucial juncture. After a five-year relationship, Sally has broken up with herboyfriend. At the same time, Harry's marriage has recently crumbled and his wife has left himfor another man. This time when Harry and Sally meet, they have changed to the point thatthey find they have things in common. And, as Humphry Bogart said at the end ofCasablanca, "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

A beautiful friendship is exactly what it turns out to be. The middle passages of WhenHarry Met Sally... are perfectly pitched in depicting the growing relationship betweenthe two characters. This section of the film is constructed of brief montages showing theirlives in New York as they help each other carry home Christmas trees and run errandstogether combined with beautifully acted sequences in which they laugh and joke with eachother, share their feelings and worries, and generally rely on each other for support andguidance.

Both Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan turn in excellent performances, especially during this partof the film. They are both relaxed and natural, and their conversational banter is natural andcompelling. Rarely has a film made so much potentially banal dialogue ring so true. Thewhole film feels fresh and inspired, and there are scenes that are touching and gentle, andothers that are absolutely hilarious (Sally's faked orgasm in the middle of a deli restaurantwill probably always live in the annals of cinema's funniest moments). Director Rob Reiner,who was following two major sleeper hits in Stand By Me (1986) and ThePrincess Bride (1987), both of which displayed his adeptness at mixing comedy anddrama, pitches each scene in the film just right. His camera is reserved and unobtrusive, andhe knows how to let the actors carry the movie.

During the middle portion of the story, Harry and Sally's two best friends, Marie (CarrieFisher) and Jess (Bruno Kirby), become romantically involved, which begins to put pressureon the relationship between Harry and Sally. If they're so perfectly matched, if they spend somuch time together and enjoy each other's company so much, why aren't theytogether?

The last third of the film deals with the fall-out after Harry and Sally sleep together. Thequestion posed by the film's tagline, "Can two friends sleep together and still love each otherin the morning?," turns out to be a tough one to answer. Simply put, sex changes everything.The film has a powerful message about the role of sex, how it can be toyed with andessentially minimized, as Harry has done most of his life, or it can become the lynchpin thateither helps to hold a relationship together or tear it apart. The scenes between Harry andSally after they sleep together are awkward and difficult, and they ring absolutely true.

Like the elderly couples who tell their stories in the interludes, the path to true love for Harryand Sally is neither straight nor smooth. But, in the end, it makes for a great story.

©2001 James Kendrick

When Harry MetSally...: Special Edition DVD

AspectRatio1.85:1
AnamorphicYes
AudioDolby 2.0 Surround
LanguagesEnglish
SubtitlesFrench,Spanish
Supplements Audiocommentary by director Rob Reiner
"How Harry Met Sally" 35-minute documentary
Seven deleted scenes
Original theatrical trailers for When Harry Met Sally..., The Princess Bride,and This is Spinal Tap
Harry Connick, Jr. music video, "It Had to Be You"
DistributorMetro-Goldwyn Mayer
SRP$24.98

VIDEO
The new anamorphic widescreen transfer is fabulous. Itlooks like the film was shot yesterday. Colors are rich and vibrant, especially the scenes inCentral Park during autumn, where the leaves have turned brilliant shades of red, orange, andgold. Detail level is consistently high, and black levels are generally solid throughout. Fleshtones appear normal.

AUDIO
The only audio option is a Dolby two-channel mix that turnsout to be more than adequate. As Rob Reiner describes the film, it is "wall-to-wall dialogue."The soundtrack is naturally front-heavy, but because so much of it is dialogue, you don't missthe use of the surround channels. In fact, a more "showy" soundtrack would have likelydistracted from the dialogue by including unnecessary surround effects. The dialogue is thekey, and it all sounds natural. There are a few scenes that involve some sound effects, such asthe sequence that takes place in Giants Stadium during a football game. A wave keepsrunning through the crowd, and the soundtrack does an adequate job of moving the sounds ofthe cheering wave across the front soundstage.

SUPPLEMENTS
What I was expected to be one of the highlights of thisspecial edition DVD, Rob Reiner's audio commentary, turns out to be something of adisappointment. The commentary is surprisingly flat, with numerous long pauses.Considering that he was an actor before he was a director, and he is always energetic ininterviews, I had expected Reiner to have more life in his commentary. While he does haveinteresting stories to tell about the production and offers insight into how the film reflects hisown life, his commentary is still a bit difficult to sit through at times.

Much better is the 35-minute making-of documentary, "How Harry Met Sally." Much ofwhat Reiner talks about in the commentary is also covered here in new interviews with him,screenwriter Nora Ephron, composer Mark Shaiman, and actors Billy Crystal and CarrieFisher (there are also a few bits from 1988 on-set interviews with Meg Ryan and BrunoKirby). Filled mostly with these interviews and a bare minimum of scenes from the movieand behind-the-scenes footage, this documentary offers a great deal of backgroundinformation on how the film came to be. It gives you a great appreciation for how it was atruly collaborative effort.

The disc also includes seven deleted scenes, most of which run about a minute or so in lengthand were originally segments in larger scenes that are still in the movie. You can see whymost of these segments were cut, although the piece that shows Billy Crystal stuffing hismouth with grapes and imitating Marlon Brando's performance in The Godfather istruly hilarious.

The disc is rounded out by three theatrical trailers for Rob Reiner films: When HarryMet Sally..., The Princess Bride, and This is Spinal Tap. The first twoare presented in full-frame, while the Spinal Tap trailer, which is one of the weirdestand funniest I've ever seen, is presented in anamorphic widescreen. Also included is a HarryConnick, Jr. music video for the film's theme song, "It Had to Be You."



Overall Rating: (4)




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