Pretty good -- but episodic -- love/hate/love story

Rating: 7/10 (21 August 2013)

I'm not sure why I never caught this move before...after all. it's been out there for 24 years. But, I'm glad I did. It's not a GREAT movie, but it's a very good movie.
I know. Some of you are upset that I don't think it's great. I'm not totally into what I'll refer to as "episodic movies". I like a movie that flows. And this one really didn't. Various episodes were punctuated by old couples briefly telling how they met. I enjoyed those little vignettes between episodes...but I just don't like episodicness (and yes, I know that's not a word).
Now, aside from that, it's a good movie. Boy meets girl. Boy and girl grate on each other. Boy and girl keep running into each other every few years. Eventually boy and girl fall in love, but not until they've annoyed the hell out of each other every once in a while. And every once in a while along the way, there's a heckuva funny line.
There are really only 4 actors worth mentioning here. To begin with, Billy Crystal as the male lead. I'd forgotten he was once young; like back when he was on "Soap". But what I found interesting about his performance was that in terms of phrasing, he's still sorta the same. Meg Ryan...well, I've come to like her as an actress, but I never really noticed her until 4 years later in "Sleepless In Seattle". Here...well, she's an actress...but not quite Meg Ryan, yet. Here, I was not overly impressed with her as the female lead. Carrie Fisher is her best friend, and does nicely. She's pleasant enough, but not good enough to have maintained her star status from "Star Wars". Bruno Kirby was pretty good as the best friend's husband and pal to Crystal. He had a period of playing this sort of role rather well.
It's interesting to watch this Rob Reiner film in what would have been his formative years.
So for me, this film doesn't set the world on fire, but it's pretty good.