Great romantic comedy...

Rating: 10/10 (29 October 2006)

When Harry Met Sally... is one of the best rom-coms ever made. Nora Ephron wrote three scripts for Meg Ryan - When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail. All three are romantic comedies. All of them are incurably romantic and reference B&W/old classics - Casablanca, An Affair to Remember and The Shop Around the Corner respectively. All three are very good, with When Harry leading the trio.
Harry and Sally meet each other on a road trip from Chicago to New York where both are relocating. We see their initial two encounters turn to disaster but they eventually decide to become friends ten years after they first met. They also decide not to have sex so as not to destroy their friendship. Of course they are eventually going to develop feelings for each other and of course the hero always gets the girl in the end - no deviation from the standard script Hollywood has been rehashing for decades.
What makes this particular re-working of a fairly standard plot is primarily the script. Very intelligent, with lots of wit and good dialogue. Then, there are classic scenes, the best of which is the "I'll have what she's having..." diner scene. The inter-cuts to actual old couples who've been together for decades discussing their relationship is brilliant.
Romantic comedy is admittedly not a genre that pushes the boundaries of cinema. But, its very enjoyable and When Harry Met Sally is one of the enduring classics of the genre.