There are films that are famous for a single scene. This might create certain problems in today’s age, when video sharing social media allows for that scene to be watched by audience that becomes disinterested for anything before and after it. One of the films affected by the phenomenon is When Harry Met Sally..., 1989 romantic comedy directed by Rob Reiner, best known for its legendary restaurant scene.
The plot begins in 1977 when two recently graduated University of Chicago students – Harry Burns (played by Billy Crystal) and Sally Albright (played by Meg Ryan) – decide to share their ride to New York where Sally would continue her journalism studies while Harry would get a job as a political consultant. During the travel their characters appear to be completely opposite – Harry is pessimist, while Sally is always hopeful. They also establish their different views on many issues, including Harry’s claim that heterosexual man and woman simply can’t be friends, because sex always get in the way. Many years later they would get the opportunity to test that notion in practise. After previously bumping into each other, in late 1980s they establish proper friendship, partially motivated by common trauma of divorce and failed romantic relationship. As time goes by, their friendship grows but the sexual tension remains, even when they try to channel it outwards by setting up their respective friends Jess (played by Bruno Kirby) and Marie (played by Carrie Fisher) with each other.
Some critics might call When Harry Met Sally... as nothing more than paper-light romantic comedy, despite its creation being long and arduous process, inspired by real life frustrations and experiences of its authors. Scriptwriter Nora Ephron and director Rob Reiner have, to a large degree, based protagonists on themselves (although, unlike the film, their relationship in real life remained platonic). Use of jazz standards (performed for the large part by contemporary singer Harry Connick Jr.), mild Jewish humour and milieu of New York intellectuals and upper middle class professional made this film look like a copy of Woody Allen’s films. Use of quasi-documentary interviews with old couples describing their relationships gives impression of unnecessary pretentiousness. The film, despite those flaws, works. Reiner directs it well, keeping good tempo and putting decade-long story within digestible running time of hour and half. The casting is very good, especially in case of Meg Ryan, who plays her character with great charm, making it both confident and vulnerable under the surface. Rob Reiner’s friend Billy Crystal, who actually helped with some of the script, is good as Harry, playing it as a laid-back and passive character who refuses to believe true feelings towards Sally and how they make him vulnerable. Originally distributed during blockbuster-packed Summer of 1989, When Harry Met Sally... proved to be sleeper hit, with its box office success often explained as result of “counter-programming” when bombastic action adventures dominated the big screen. Rob Reiner’s film in many ways showed Hollywood that romantic comedies can be commercially viable and thus paved the way from many big hits of that genre in 1990s, as well as establishing Meg Ryan as one of its major stars. Today’s audience that decides to watch entire film instead of restaurant scene probably won’t regret that decision.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/ Leofinance blog https://leofinance.io/@drax.leo Cent profile https://beta.cent.co/@drax Minds profile https://www.minds.com/drax_rp_nc Uptrennd profile https://www.uptrennd.com/user/MTYzNA
Unstoppable Domains: https://unstoppabledomains.com/?ref=3fc23fc42c1b417 Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax Bitcoin Lightning HIVE donations: https://v4v.app/v1/lnurlp/qrcode/drax Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax 1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e
BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
