A Sad Statement on Relationship

Rating: 4/10 (30 April 2014)

I thought this movie was terrible. I watched it once, many years ago, on cable, but this time, I only lasted up until the scene where they were walking in the park and she evidently was allowing him to become a part of her life. There was no character development in the movie. Who are these two people? What are their dreams, their history? Why are they together? It seems that neither of them have any solid identity. Maybe that is their greatest commonality.
I did get the impression that Sally was somewhat enthusiastic about life. What, in the world, did she see in him? I was trying to look at Harry psychologically, but could not come up with any specific pathology, but some warped blend of anhedonia and delusions of grandeur. Crystal sounding like he is reading all his lines does not help things, and this gives the movie a droning tempo. The fact that his character expects his assuming, pompous and otherwise rude nature to earn him friends and lovers is bad enough: When relatively-normal but easily-influenced Sally started actually accepting Harry's depressive confrontationalism, I could see where the movie was heading. I loved Billy Crystal in City Slickers and Meg Ryan was great in Addicted To Love, but When Harry Met Sally reminded me of The Mirror Has Two Faces, in that it inadvertently explores the issue of women "settling for less" in a relationship and allowing themselves to be there-by abused. I am frankly offended by When Harry Met Sally, and can only imagine how the movie would have run if Meg Ryan's character had stood her ground and demanded more: More than Harry, as well as the putz she was with at the airport.