"When Harry Met Sally" - Stands the Test of Time

Rating: 10/10 (8 January 2006)

"When Harry Met Sally" may not at first seem to be the kind of film that remains classic and timeless. In this very cute exploration of an age-old question: "Can men and women truly just be friends?," Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan play the kind of characters we have come to love to see them play. No surprises there as they skillfully banter back and forth between adorable, hysterical and morose as the plot rolls on. But upon closer inspection, this film is actually full of nice surprises, including its durability. Watch carefully and you will find one of the best examples of the way an excellent script can propel the plot, character development and pacing of a film perfectly from start to finish. Many lines may seem to be merely entertaining one-liners, but they also serve these other purposes simultaneously. This is a well crafted and well acted script. Even the most dated aspect of the film, the intentional focus on clothing, hair and makeup styles as they change throughout the decades, has taken an unexpected poignancy now that the styles we may remember as current at the time have come to be old-fashioned themselves. The end result is that "When Harry Met Sally" speaks to us if we remember the times portrayed in the film or not. We're still asking questions about men and women and friendship, and films such as this still help us answer them.