In honor of February and a month filled with love, I will be reviewing a rom com each day until Valentine’s day! Hopefully these reviews will inspire you to sit down sometime this month and enjoy a good rom com. I have always been obsessed with love and romance, so ‘ll share my honest opinion about each one so you can find the best ones to watch this month.
To start the series I figured I would go with a classic that your parents have probably seen, When Harry Met Sally made in 1989. This movie looks to answer the question, “Can men and women really ever just be friends?” which I think is a question a lot of us wonder. Can a man and a woman really just be platonic? Or is there another reason they love being around each other?
The movie centers around Harry Burns (Billy Crystal) and Sally Albright (Meg Ryan), the two “love interests” that start out as friends. Friends may not even accurately describe them at the beginning of the movie. It opens with Sally driving Harry cross-country to New York after graduating from college because Sally is attending a journalism school there and Harry has a job waiting. One of Sally’s friends is dating Harry, so driving together to the common destination just made sense.
The two do not really hit it off at first, especially once Harry explains during the car ride that he thinks it is impossible for a man and a woman to really just be friends. Sally has a completely different opinion, believing that it is possible for them to simply have a friendly relationship. After they arrive in New York they go their separate ways.
Over the next few years they cross paths a couple times, and after one encounter they slowly become friends. Calling each other, getting lunch together, hanging out, but all things strictly platonic (right?).
Throughout the movie, their bond becomes closer and it truly challenges the idea if a man and woman can really be just friends. But at a New Years Eve party, they confess their true feelings for each other after over a decade of trying to suppress them.
I think what I love about When Harry Met Sally and what makes it unique, is the fact that the movie spans a decade long time frame. They do not connect right away and their differences almost bring them together. As much as Sally
wants to hate Harry and think of him as just a friend, she cannot hide her feelings for him that came when she wasn’t actively searching. The movie shows how sometimes it’s just not the right time for the right person, and how they can come into your life in unexpected ways.
Usually rom coms introduce the two love interests at the start of the movie, and even though you know they are going to end up together, not knowing how they will makes it interesting. You know Harry and Sally are going to end up together, even by the title, but the 11 year journey they take is the unexpected part.
So Harry’s initial claim that, “no man or woman can truly be just friends” really did come true with Sally, and I would honestly have to agree. Harry shares my favorite quote of the movie in the New Year’s Eve scene when he says, “I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” If this quote alone does not make you want to watch or rewatch this movie I don’t know what will. It is the love we all dream of.
I really love this movie and both of the actors are great, especially Meg Ryan. I give this movie a five out of five hearts, and would recommend it to anyone searching for a tender love story. Definitely a classic rom com to watch and you’ll feel like your heart is getting twisted in so many directions.
See you tomorrow for day 2!
Love, Haley
