An excellent romantic comedy that's able to remain fresh and original even today

Rating: 10/10 (20 December 2010)

First of all, I'd like to say that I pretty much hate romantic comedies. I can't stand them at all. They're all the same, have the same plots, the same characters (in most cases) and even the same actors. The only thing that changes in these kinds of movies is the background in which the characters live. But of course there are exceptions, such as the Hepburn/Grant 1938 flick 'Bringing Up Baby', Woody Allen's Best Picture winner 'Annie Hall', and this movie. 'When Harry Met Sally...' is a romantic comedy that was able to be original in 1989 and remains fresh even nowadays, when most movies from this genre copy what it introduced back then.
'When Harry Met Sally...' story focuses on the relationship of Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan), covering 12 years of their lives, starting in 1977, when they met in a trip (hence the title), and ending in 1989, the year the movie was made. In these 12 years, Harry and Sally go through many phases. First they hated each other, then they became friends, until they finally realized they loved each other. The story may seem simple enough, but the script written by Nora Ephron - who even got an Oscar nomination for it - manages to tell it in a simple but yet complicated matter, a matter that holds the attention of the viewer during the whole movie. Throughout it, Ephron deals with many themes regarding love, and throws a lot of questions to the viewer, such as "Can men and women be friends?" and so on. The script also introduces us to concepts that were used in most of other romantic comedies to come, like the idea of both the main characters having close friends who also fall in love, the feelings that the main characters have for each other, going from hate to love during the movie, and so on. And speaking of the main characters, the character development here is nothing but marvelous, which reflects in Harry's case for example: a character that starts off as a ladies' man, and finishes the movie as guy in love for his then- friend. And it's just this change in the characters that makes the movie so great, and specially, believable. Add this to some fantastic well- written dialog, and you got yourself an excellent script.
There's really not much to praise in what regards the acting here. Both the main actors do a pretty good job in portraying their characters, but it's not really that stand-off job. Surprisingly, the best member of the cast is Meg Ryan, in probably the best performance of her career. She manages to deliver a very strong performance and convince as that's Sally, appealing to both men and women - like the movie itself. And she did a hell of a job in the infamous fake orgasm scene, which has got to be one of the most funny scenes ever. Like Meg Ryan, Billy Crystal also does an amazing job. In this movie, he's the guy every man wants to be. Apart from the main duo, the other two important characters are jess (Bruno Kirby) and Marie (Carrie Fisher), who do an average job.
'When Harry Met Sally...' is directed by the always-great Rob Reiner. I've watched most of his movies, and although this definitely ain't his best work, all can say that Mr. Reiner did a pretty good job directing this picture. Most of the shots don't have much to them, but there are a few scenes where you can watch and say "Rob Reiner certainly shot that." And the way he tells the story, interpolating Harry and Sally's story with real couples telling their love-story is a pretty good addiction to the script. I also thought the cinematography here was quite well-done, giving the feeling of New York to the viewer brilliantly.
Overall, 'When Harry Met Sally...' is an excellent romantic comedy, that's able to appeal to both men and women. The best thing here is Nora Ephron's very well-written script. The acting is not so great, but it could be worst, though. Rob Reiner's directing made the movie what it is: a romantic comedy that was fresh and original back then and remains so nowadays, even with a lot of the movies from this genre copying many things from 'When Harry Met Sally...'
9/10