Sex always gets in the way (When Harry Met Sally (DVD))

Member Name: NikkiH

Product:	When Harry Met Sally (DVD)
Date:	30/07/01 (49 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great comedy moments, Superb casting

Disadvantages: None

“When Harry Met Sally” is a love story with a difference, it is about two best friends, and spans over a decade of their lives, loves and loathes over that time.

The film starts in 1977, when Harry Burns (Billy Crystal) meets Sally (Meg Ryan) at The University of Chicago. They share a car en route to New York to start out on their chosen careers of journalism for Sally and politics for Harry. They immediately brush each other up the wrong way, as she is a vocal feminist, and he an unashamed sexist. They have a conversation which is the basis for the remainder of the film, and that is that men and women can never just be friends because sex will always get in the way.

They have no further contact with each other until a chance meeting at an airport some years later when Sally is with her boyfriend. There is an undeniable chemistry, but it comes to nothing. They meet again when her boyfriend dumps her, and Harry is in the middle of a messy divorce from his wife Helen, and it is then they decide that they could be friends, and they start to spend more and more time together.

They watch each other go on many failed dates without realising that they have already found their perfect match.

The issue of sex constantly raises it’s head, and one day while eating out, they talk about faking orgasms. This leads to the now infamous orgasm scene, where Sally proves to Harry that it is easy to fake an orgasm, and proceeds to do so, very loudly, in a packed restaurant.

The film is directed by the talented Rob Reiner, and he guides us through a very enjoyable journey of the emotions felt by the two main characters without following the trend set by other films. He claims that he made Harry and extension of his own ego. The supporting cast of mainly Carrie Fisher and Jess (Bruno Kirby) play valuable parts, but seem to fade into the background in comparison to Ryan and Crystal whose on screen chemistry is electric and th
ey are both very funny people, and the script written by Nora Ephron provides them with some very witty dialogue. Meg Ryan was pretty much an unknown when this film was released, and it catapulted her into superstardom, and the media darling she is nowadays.

The film does a great job of highlighting the subtle differences between men and women, and what they are ultimately looking for in a partner. In a time when most popular films were of the action genre, this romantic comedy showed us all that variety was the spice of life.

The soundtrack is beautiful and perfect for the mood of the film, and also provided Harry Connick Jr with a platform to work off, and he has done very well as a modern day Sinatra type crooner with a touch of modern day jazz.

This film has aged well, and is as enjoyable today as it was the first time I saw it. I also liked the documentary type add ins from couples very much in love which added to the mood of the movie.
I would recommend this 100%, and if you have not yet seen it, put it at the top of your list and see it soon, you do not know what you are missing.

Summary: