This movie can be described as probably the most popular movie to date for Rob Reiner who is the director. It is a movie that made the studio to realize that even in the 1990s the genre of the romantic movie could also be popular and profitable. In the summer of 1989, there was a series of action blockbuster and it is during this time that this movie was released acting as counter programming to these action movies which were now tiring. The movie surprised almost everyone when it gathered a gross income of over one hundred million dollars. Before the movie was released many years had passed from the time the adult romantic comedy was in vague. This was due to lack of chemistry between the leads and existence of very poor scripts. (Reiner, 1989)
This movie can be said to keep the focus firmly on the relationship that exists between these two characters that happen to be in the title that is Harry and Sally. There are no incidents that the movie wanders off to some unwelcomed tangents. However, there happen to be some subplots which are very crucial to the development of the friendship that exists between Sally and Harry. The movie therefore offers what can be referred to as an occasional poignant point of view of women, men, friendship, love and sex. (Reiner, 1989)
One of the movies strength happens to be the casting. Billy Crystal use of dry style happens to be perfect for Harry. He is likable and insufferable at the same time. Underneath all this, there beats a heart of a very caring man. On the other hand, Meg Ryan uses her modest personality to demonstrate the perfect character of Sally but she later shows her vulnerable side. The characters of these two individuals are opposite but they happen to a very charming and warm in their interaction and this is something that lacks in most of the motion picture pairings. (Reiner, 1989)
The movie has the most famous line in the dialogue as Women and men can never be friends because the sex part will always get in their way. This is a statement that for many times has been the topic of discussion, talk shows, dinner table and articles in magazines during the same year that the movie was released. After this issue is raised, the movie spends most its running trying to prove this statement wrong. It is therefore up to the audience or the viewer to decide whether the statement is true or whether it is not true according to the events that take place. After all, even though Sally and Harry became fast friends, their relationship failed to remain platonic. (Reiner, 1989)
Looking at the movie, the story starts when Sally Albright met Harry Burns in 1977 when they shared a drive. They were both leaving the University of Chicago after Harry completed a political science degree and Sally had completed a journalism degree. In their trip, they discovered that even though they liked each other, they had very little if anything in common. At a point during the trip, Harry happened to make a pass at Sally who got furious and insisted that they should settle for being just friends. This is the time that Harry makes this famous statement of comment. (Reiner, 1989)
They arrive at Manhattan and they part. They stay for a period of five years before they would accidently bump into each other again. The second time, it was now in an airport. By this time Harry was engaged and was to be married soon while Sally happens to be in the midst of a very serious relationship. At this point, the only time they spend together is while they are in the plane and then they separate almost immediately after they reach their destination. They stay for some time before they meet again and their next meeting is in late 1980s where they happen to be both newly single. The reason is that Sally had recently broken off a dead-end and long-term affair and Harry had been left by his wife. They realize that now they have something in common the mutual bond of loss and this draws them into a close friendship. However, events push their new relationship into the sexual line and this is the time that things do not go smoothly again. (Reiner, 1989)
They dominated most part of the film but there is also an introduction of some other people into the story. Such is the romance that existed between Marie who happens to be Sallys best friend with Chum who coincidentally, happens to be Harrys best friend. The monotony of the story is also broken by some documentary-style clips of the interviews conducted on the elderly wives and husbands. In the interviews, most of them fondly remember who they met. Most of the actors in these scenes are so credible that it is easy to believe that they are actually real couples who are recounting genuine anecdotes rather than working from a script. (Reiner, 1989)
Ultimately, it can be said that this movie works because it happens to be somehow different from all the other romantic comedies that we are used to. Harry and Sally are well written as they easily transcend the level of stereotyping that they would have fallen into easily. The dialogue in the movie also happens to be witty and smart offering very many quotable passages. However, even though the movie offers some very intriguing questions concerning the nature of relationship that exists between men and female, the film fails to answer these questions. (Reiner, 1989)
For those people who are in love with romantic comedy, this movie is a treat. The movie was good to practically all those people that were involved and in the process it elevated the career of Reiner and Crystal who transformed Meg Ryan into an established leading lady. Over ten years down the line, the movie still holds up remarkably well. This is not a surprise as the saying goes that a good romance happens to be timeless. (Reiner, 1989)
This movie can be said to keep the focus firmly on the relationship that exists between these two characters that happen to be in the title that is Harry and Sally. There are no incidents that the movie wanders off to some unwelcomed tangents. However, there happen to be some subplots which are very crucial to the development of the friendship that exists between Sally and Harry. The movie therefore offers what can be referred to as an occasional poignant point of view of women, men, friendship, love and sex. (Reiner, 1989)
One of the movies strength happens to be the casting. Billy Crystal use of dry style happens to be perfect for Harry. He is likable and insufferable at the same time. Underneath all this, there beats a heart of a very caring man. On the other hand, Meg Ryan uses her modest personality to demonstrate the perfect character of Sally but she later shows her vulnerable side. The characters of these two individuals are opposite but they happen to a very charming and warm in their interaction and this is something that lacks in most of the motion picture pairings. (Reiner, 1989)
The movie has the most famous line in the dialogue as Women and men can never be friends because the sex part will always get in their way. This is a statement that for many times has been the topic of discussion, talk shows, dinner table and articles in magazines during the same year that the movie was released. After this issue is raised, the movie spends most its running trying to prove this statement wrong. It is therefore up to the audience or the viewer to decide whether the statement is true or whether it is not true according to the events that take place. After all, even though Sally and Harry became fast friends, their relationship failed to remain platonic. (Reiner, 1989)
Looking at the movie, the story starts when Sally Albright met Harry Burns in 1977 when they shared a drive. They were both leaving the University of Chicago after Harry completed a political science degree and Sally had completed a journalism degree. In their trip, they discovered that even though they liked each other, they had very little if anything in common. At a point during the trip, Harry happened to make a pass at Sally who got furious and insisted that they should settle for being just friends. This is the time that Harry makes this famous statement of comment. (Reiner, 1989)
They arrive at Manhattan and they part. They stay for a period of five years before they would accidently bump into each other again. The second time, it was now in an airport. By this time Harry was engaged and was to be married soon while Sally happens to be in the midst of a very serious relationship. At this point, the only time they spend together is while they are in the plane and then they separate almost immediately after they reach their destination. They stay for some time before they meet again and their next meeting is in late 1980s where they happen to be both newly single. The reason is that Sally had recently broken off a dead-end and long-term affair and Harry had been left by his wife. They realize that now they have something in common the mutual bond of loss and this draws them into a close friendship. However, events push their new relationship into the sexual line and this is the time that things do not go smoothly again. (Reiner, 1989)
They dominated most part of the film but there is also an introduction of some other people into the story. Such is the romance that existed between Marie who happens to be Sallys best friend with Chum who coincidentally, happens to be Harrys best friend. The monotony of the story is also broken by some documentary-style clips of the interviews conducted on the elderly wives and husbands. In the interviews, most of them fondly remember who they met. Most of the actors in these scenes are so credible that it is easy to believe that they are actually real couples who are recounting genuine anecdotes rather than working from a script. (Reiner, 1989)
Ultimately, it can be said that this movie works because it happens to be somehow different from all the other romantic comedies that we are used to. Harry and Sally are well written as they easily transcend the level of stereotyping that they would have fallen into easily. The dialogue in the movie also happens to be witty and smart offering very many quotable passages. However, even though the movie offers some very intriguing questions concerning the nature of relationship that exists between men and female, the film fails to answer these questions. (Reiner, 1989)
For those people who are in love with romantic comedy, this movie is a treat. The movie was good to practically all those people that were involved and in the process it elevated the career of Reiner and Crystal who transformed Meg Ryan into an established leading lady. Over ten years down the line, the movie still holds up remarkably well. This is not a surprise as the saying goes that a good romance happens to be timeless. (Reiner, 1989)
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