When Harry Met Sally...

Infobox Film
name = When Harry Met Sally...


image_size =
caption = Theatrical poster
director = Rob Reiner
producer = Andrew Scheinman
Rob Reiner
writer = Nora Ephron
narrator =
starring = Billy Crystal
Meg Ryan
Carrie Fisher
Bruno Kirby
music = Marc Shaiman
cinematography = Barry Sonnenfeld
editing = Robert Leighton
distributor = Columbia Pictures
Castle Rock Entertainment
released = July 14, 1989 (limited)
July 21, 1989 (wide)
runtime = 96 minutes
country = USA
language = English
budget = $16,000,000
gross = $92,823,546 (North America)
website = http://www.whenharrymetsallythemovie.com/
amg_id = 1:54134
imdb_id = 0098635

"When Harry Met Sally..." is a 1989 romantic comedy film written by Nora Ephron and directed by Rob Reiner. It stars Billy Crystal as Harry and Meg Ryan as Sally. The story follows the title characters from the time they meet on a cross-country carpool ride, through twelve years or so of chance encounters in New York City. The film raises the question "Can men and women ever just be friends?" and advances many ideas about love that have become household concepts now, such as the "" [cite web |url= http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A04EEDC1138F93BA25752C1A961958260 |title= From 'Happy Camper' to 'Out of Sight' |author= Michiko Kakutani |publisher= "The New York Times" |work= Review of "Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume II: H-O." ISBN 0-67943-464-X |date= November 18, 1997 |quote= "When Harry Met Sally" (1989) is credited with popularizing the phrase "high-maintenance"… ] girlfriend and the "transitional person".cite news
last = Pasupathi
first = Vimala C
title = The Rhetoric of Love and Seduction
publisher = University of Texas at Austin
date = July 25, 2006
url = http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~pasupathi/309k04//texts.html
accessdate = 2007-11-29 ]

The origins of the film came from Reiner's return to single life after a divorce. Ephron interviewed Reiner and it provided the basis for Harry. Sally was based on Ephron and some of her friends. Crystal came on board and made his own contributions to the screenplay, making Harry funnier. Ephron supplied the structure of the film with much of the dialogue based on the real-life friendship between Reiner and Crystal. The soundtrack consists of standards performed by Harry Connick, Jr., with a big band and orchestra arranged by Marc Shaiman. Connick won his first Grammy for Best Jazz Male Vocal Performance.

Columbia Pictures released the film using the "platform" technique, which involved opening it in a few select cities letting positive word of mouth generate interest and then gradually expanding distribution over subsequent weeks. "When Harry Met Sally..." grossed a total of US$92 million in North America, well above its $16 million budget. Ephron received a British Academy Film Award, an Oscar nomination, and a Writers Guild of America Award nomination for her screenplay. The film is 23rd on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs list of the top comedy films in American cinema and number 60 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies". In early 2004, the film was adapted for the stage in a production starring Luke Perry and Alyson Hannigan.

Plot

Throughout the film several diverse couples reflect on their relationship histories: how they met, courted, and married. These couples are not part of the plot, but the main characters tie into their stories.

In 1977, Harry Burns and Sally Albright finish college at the University of Chicago (in scenes shot on location at the University) [cite web|url=http://www.enjoyillinois.com/movies/region-chicago.html|title=Movie Map|accessdate=2008-08-08|publisher=Universal Studios|work=On screen Illinois] and meet while carpooling to begin their careers in New York City. At the time, Harry is dating a friend of Sally's. The film examines their ideas about relationships between men and women. It is Harry's view that, "Men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way." Sally disagrees, claiming that men and women can be strictly friends without sex. This argument becomes an underlying theme to the movie. On the way, at a stop in a diner, Sally is angered when Harry tells her she is attractive; she accuses him of making a pass at her. In New York, due to their divergent philosophies, they depart less than friendly.

Five years later they meet in a New York airport, and find themselves on the same airplane. Both are in relationships; Sally has just started dating a man named Joe, and Harry is engaged to a woman named Helen, which surprises Sally. Harry suggests they become friends, forcing him to elaborate on his previous rule about male-female friendships; they can never be friends because sex will always be in their way spoiling it. They separate concluding that they will not be friends.

Harry and Sally meet again five years later in a New York bookstore. Their earlier relationships have ended, and they have coffee together where they talk about their previous relationships. After leaving the café, they take a walk and decide to become friends. In the scenes that follow, they have become very close friends having late night phone conversations, going to dinner, and spending a lot of time together. Their dating experiences with other people during this time highlights their different approaches to relationships and sex.

During a New Year's Eve party Harry and Sally find themselves attracted to each other. Though they remain friends, they set each other up with their respective best friends, Marie and Jess. The four go to a restaurant, where it is Marie and Jess that hit it off and end up getting married. Sally, however, breaks down crying once she hears the news that her ex, Joe, has gotten married. Harry, who has been listening to her crying over the phone, goes over to her apartment to comfort her. They have sex that night, resulting in an awkward moment next morning as Harry quickly leaves Sally's apartment. This creates tension in their relationship, as the two have a heated argument during Jess and Marie's wedding dinner that leads to their friendship cooling for three weeks. At a New Year's Eve party that year, Sally feels alone without Harry by her side. When she decides to leave the party early, Harry walks in and declares his love for her, and they make up and kiss. It is shown in the last segment of the movie that Harry and Sally have gotten married, and they are the last couple who discuss their relationship history.

Production

In 1984, director Rob Reiner, producer Andy Scheinman and writer Nora Ephron met over lunch at the Russian Tea Room in New York City to develop a project.cite news
last = Keyser
first = Lucy
title = It's Love at the box office for "Harry Met Sally..."
publisher = "Washington Times"
date = July 25, 1989 ] Reiner pitched an idea for a film that Ephron rejected.cite news
title = It All Started Like This
work = When Harry Met Sally... Collector's Edition DVD
publisher = 20th Century Fox
date = 2008 ] The second meeting transformed into a long discussion about Reiner and Scheinman's lives as single men. Reiner remembers, "I was in the middle of my single life. I'd been divorced for a while. I'd been out a number of times, all these disastrous, confusing relationships one after another".cite news
last = Weber
first = Bruce
title = Can Men and Women Be Friends?
work = The New York Times
date = July 9, 1989
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEFDE143AF93AA35754C0A96F948260
accessdate = 2007-09-23 ] The next time they all met Reiner said that he had always wanted to do a film about two people who become friends and do not have sex because they know it will ruin their relationship but have sex anyway. Ephron liked the idea, and Reiner acquired a deal at a studio.

She then proceeded to interview Reiner and Scheinman about their lives in order to have material on which to draw. These interviews also provided the basis for Harry. Reiner was constantly depressed, pessimistic yet very funny. Ephron also got bits of dialogue from these interviews. Sally was based on Ephron and some of her friends. She worked on several drafts over the years while Reiner made "Stand By Me" and "The Princess Bride". Billy Crystal came on board when the project was called "Boy Meets Girl" and made his own contributions to the screenplay, making Harry funnier.cite news
title = When Rob Met Billy
work = When Harry Met Sally... Collector's Edition DVD
publisher = 20th Century Fox
date = 2008 ] The comedian "experienced vicariously" Reiner's (his best friend at the time) return to single life after divorcing comedienne/filmmaker Penny Marshall and in the process was unconsciously doing research for the role of Harry.

During the screenwriting process when Ephron would not feel like writing, she would interview people who worked for the production company. Some of the interviews appeared in the film as the interludes between certain scenes featuring couples talking about how they met, although the material was rewritten and reshot with real actors. Ephron supplied the structure of the film with much of the dialogue based on the real-life friendship between Reiner and Crystal.cite news
last = Lacey
first = Liam
title = Pals make "buddy picture"
publisher = "Globe and Mail"
date = July 15, 1989 ] For example, in the scene where Sally and Harry appear on a split screen, talking on the telephone while watching their respective television sets, channel surfing, was something that Crystal and Reiner did every night.

Originally, Ephron wanted to call the film, "How They Met" and went through several different titles. Reiner even started a contest with the crew during principal photography - whoever came up with the title won a case a champagne. In order to get into the lonely mindset of Harry when he was divorced and single, Crystal stayed by himself in a separate room from the cast and crew while they were shooting in Manhattan. The script initially ended with Harry and Sally remaining friends and not pursuing a romantic relationship because she felt that was "the true ending", as did Reiner. Eventually, Ephron and Reiner realized that it would be a more appropriate ending for them to marry, though they admit that this is generally not a realistic outcome.cite news
last = Schwarz
first = Jeffrey
title = How Harry Met Sally...
work = When Harry Met Sally DVD
publisher = MGM
date = 2000 ]

When posed the film's central question, can men and women just be friends, Ryan replied, "Yes, men and women can just be friends. I have a lot of platonic (male) friends, and sex doesn't get in the way." Crystal said, "I'm a little more optimistic than Harry. But I think it is difficult. Men basically act like stray dogs in front of a supermarket. I do have platonic (women) friends, but not best, best, best friends."cite news
last = Peterson
first = Karen S
title = When boy meets girl
publisher = "USA Today"
date = July 17, 1989 ]

Deli scene

The film may be best known for a scene featuring the two title characters having lunch at Katz's Deli in Manhattan. They are arguing about a man's ability to recognize when a woman is faking an orgasm. Sally claims men cannot tell the difference, and to prove her point, she vividly (but fully clothed) demonstrates the skill as other diners watch. The scene ends with Sally casually returning to her meal as a nearby patron, played by Reiner's mother, places her order: "I'll have what she's having." This scene was shot again and again, and Ryan demonstrated her fake orgasms for hours and hours.

This classic scene was born when the film started to focus too much on Harry. Crystal remembers saying, "'We need something for Sally to talk about,' and Nora said, 'Well, faking orgasm is a great one,' and right away we said, 'Well, the subject is good,' and then Meg came on board and we talked with her about the nature of the idea and she said, 'Well, why don't I just fake one, just do one?'" Ephron suggested that the scene take place in a deli and it was Crystal who came up with the scene's classic punchline – "I'll have what she's having." In 2005, the quote was listed 33rd on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes list of memorable movie lines. Reiner recalls that at a test screening, all of the women in the audience laughing while all of the men were silent.

oundtrack

Bobby Colomby, the drummer for Blood, Sweat & Tears was a friend of Reiner's and recommended Harry Connick, Jr., giving the director a tape of the musician's music. Reiner was struck by Connick's voice and how it sounded like a young Frank Sinatra.cite news
last = Reiner
first = Rob
coauthors = Nora Ephron, Billy Crystal
title = DVD Audio Commentary
work = When Harry Met Sally... Collector's Edition DVD
publisher = 20th Century Fox
date = 2008 ] The movie's soundtrack album was released by Columbia Records in July 1989. The soundtrack consists of standards performed by Harry Connick, Jr., with a big band and orchestra arranged by Marc Shaiman. Connick won his first Grammy for Best Jazz Male Vocal Performance.cite news
title = Grammy Award Winners
publisher = Grammy.com
url = http://www.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/Winners/Results.aspx
accessdate = 2008-01-09 ]

Arrangements and orchestrations on "It Had to Be You", "Where or When", "I Could Write a Book", and "But Not for Me" are by Connick and Shaiman. Other songs were performed as piano/vocal solos, or with Connick's trio featuring Benjamin Jonah Wolfe on bass and Jeff "Tain" Watts on drums. Also appearing on the album are tenor saxophonist Frank Wess and guitarist Joy Berliner. The soundtrack went to #1 on the "Billboard" Traditional Jazz Chart and was within the top 50 on the Billboard 200. [cite news
last = Jones
first = James T
title = Harry Connick Jr.: He's All That Jazz
publisher = "USA Today"
date = December 28, 1989 ] Connick also toured North America in support of this album. [cite news
last = Miller
first = Mark
title = Brazilian rhythms with lots of appeal "When Harry Met Sally..." Harry Connick Jr.
publisher = "Globe and Mail"
date = November 23, 1989 ] It went on to reach double-platinum status. [cite news
last = Bush
first = John
title = Harry Connick Jr. Biography
publisher = Legacy Recordings
url = http://www.legacyrecordings.com/Harry-Connick-Jr/Biography.aspx
accessdate = 2008-06-15 ]

Reception

Columbia Pictures released the film using the "platform" technique which involved opening it in a few select cities letting positive word of mouth generate interest and then gradually expanding distribution over subsequent weeks. On its opening weekend, it grossed $1 million in 41 theaters.cite news
title = "When Harry Met Sally..."
publisher = Box Office Mojo
date = November 29, 2007
url = http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=whenharrymetsally.htm
accessdate = 2007-11-29 ] Billy Crystal was worried that the film would flop at the box office because it was up against several summer blockbuster films, like "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" and "Batman". The film went into wide release on July 21, 1989, and grossed $8.8 million on its opening weekend in 775 theaters. This was later expanded to 1,174 theaters and the film grossed a total of $92.8 million in North America, well above its $16 million budget.

Critical reception

Reviews for "When Harry Met Sally..." were mostly positive. It has a rating of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes (100% for their "Cream of the Crop" designation) and a 76 metascore on Metacritic. The film led Roger Ebert to call Reiner "one of Hollywood's very best directors of comedy", and said that it was "most conventional, in terms of structure and the way it fulfills our expectations. But what makes it special, apart from the Ephron screenplay, is the chemistry between Crystal and Ryan." [cite news
last = Ebert
first = Roger
title = "When Harry Met Sally..."
publisher = "Chicago Sun-Times"
date = July 12, 1989
url = http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19890712/REVIEWS/907120301/1023
accessdate = 2007-09-23 ] In a review for "The New York Times", Caryn James called "When Harry Met Sally..." an "often funny but amazingly hollow film" that "romanticized lives of intelligent, successful, neurotic New Yorkers"; James characterized it as "the sitcom version of a Woody Allen film, full of amusing lines and scenes, all infused with an uncomfortable sense of "déjà vu". [cite news
last = James
first = Caryn
title = It's Harry (Loves) Sally in a Romance Of New Yorkers and Neuroses
work = The New York Times
date = July 12, 1989
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEFDB1630F931A25754C0A96F948260
accessdate = 2007-09-23 ]

Rita Kempley's review in the "Washington Post" praised Meg Ryan as the "summer's Melanie Griffith – a honey-haired blonde who finally finds a showcase for her sheer exuberance. Neither naif nor vamp, she's a woman from a pen of a woman, not some Cinderella of a "Working Girl"." [cite news
last = Kempley
first = Rita
title = Romance That Dances
publisher = "Washington Post"
date = July 12, 1989
url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/whenharrymetsallyrkempley_a0c9a5.htm
accessdate =2008-06-15 ] Mike Clark, of "USA Today", gave the film three out of four stars, writing, "Crystal is funny enough to keep Ryan from all-out stealing the film. She, though, is smashing in an eye-opening performance, another tribute to Reiner's flair with actors." [cite news
last = Clark
first = Mike
title = "Harry Met Sally" is Reiner's next sure thing
publisher = "USA Today"
date = July 12, 1989 ] David Ansen provided one of the rare negative reviews of the film for "Newsweek". He criticized the casting of Crystal, "Not surprisingly he handles the comedy superbly, but he's too cool and self-protective an actor to work as a romantic leading man", and felt that as a film, "of wonderful parts, it doesn't quite add up". [cite news
last = Ansen
first = David
title = To Make True Lovers of Friends
publisher = "Newsweek"
date = July 17, 1989 ]

Awards

Nora Ephron received an Oscar nomination [cite news
title = Academy Award Nominations 1989
publisher = Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
date = 1989
url = http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/DisplayMain.jsp?curTime=1196352490384
accessdate = 2007-11-29] and a Writers Guild of America Award nomination for her screenplay. She won a British Academy Film Award for Best Original Screenplay and was nominated for Best Film. [cite news
title = Film Nominations 1989
publisher = British Academy of Film and Television Arts
date = 1989
url = http://www.bafta.org/awards/film/nominations/?year=1989
accessdate = 2007-11-29] The film was also nominated for five Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Reiner for Best Director – Motion Picture, Billy Crystal for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Meg Ryan for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and Nora Ephron for Best Screenplay.cite news
title = When Harry Met Sally: Awards & Nominations
publisher = MSN Movies
url = http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=466152&mp=a
accessdate = 2008-01-09 ]

Legacy

Over the years, "When Harry Met Sally..." has become, "the quintessential contemporary feel-good relationship movie that somehow still rings true".cite news
last = Tan
first = Cheryl Lu-Lien
title = "When Harry Met Sally": For some, it's become a film icon
publisher = "Baltimore Sun"
date = February 16, 2001
url = http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20010216&slug=harry16
accessdate = 2008-06-15 ] Ephron still receives letters from people obsessed with the film and still has "people who say to me all the time, `I was having a Harry-and-Sally relationship with him or her'." The film is 23rd on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs list of the top comedy films in American cinema and number 60 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies."cite news
title = Bravo's 100 Funniest Films
publisher = Boston.com
date = July 25, 2006
url = http://themoviepage.net/bravo100funnyfilms1.html
accessdate = 2007-11-29 ] "Entertainment Weekly" named it as one of the Top 10 romantic movies of all time.cite news
title = Top 10 Romantic Movies
publisher = "Entertainment Weekly"
date = January 29, 2002
url = http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,198095_8,00.html
accessdate = 2008-06-15 ] The magazine also ranked it 12th on their Funniest Movies of the Past 25 Years list.cite news
title = The Comedy 25: The Funniest Movies of the Past 25 Years
publisher = "Entertainment Weekly"
date = August 27, 2008
url = http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20221235_13,00.html
accessdate = 2008-08-27 ] The periodical also ranked it 7th on their 25 Best Romantic Movies of the Past 25 Years list.cite news
title = 25 Best Romantic Movies of the Past 25 Years
publisher = "Entertainment Weekly"
date = September 11, 2008
url = http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20224567_18,00.html
accessdate = 2008-09-12 ] The film has inspired countless romantic comedies, including "Brown Sugar",cite news
last = Bradshaw
first = Peter
title = "Brown Sugar"
publisher = "The Guardian"
date = July 18, 2003
url = http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_review/0,,1000093,00.html
accessdate = 2008-06-15 ] "A Lot Like Love",cite news
last = Hobson
first = Louis B
title = Flick reminiscent of "When Harry Met Sally"
publisher = "Calgary Sun"
date = April 22, 2005
url = http://jam.canoe.ca/Movies/Reviews/A/A_Lot_Like_Love/2005/04/22/pf-1007688.html
accessdate = 2008-06-22 ] "Hum Tum"cite news
last = Shariff
first = Faisal
title = Pehli nazar mein pehla pyaar is crap!
work=The Rediff Interview/Kunal Kohli
publisher = "Rediff.com"
date = May 27, 2004
url = http://in.rediff.com/movies/2004/may/27kunal.htm
accessdate = 2008-06-25 ] and "Definitely, Maybe".cite news
last = Rocchi
first = James
title = Review: "Definitely, Maybe"
publisher = "Cinematical"
date = February 14, 2008
url = http://www.cinematical.com/2008/02/14/review-definitely-maybe/
accessdate = 2008-06-22 ] In addition, the film helped popularize many ideas about love that have become household concepts now, such as the "" girlfriend and the "transitional person".cite news
last = Karpel
first = Ari
title = "When Harry Met Sally": Collector's Edition
publisher = "Entertainment Weekly"
date = January 11, 2008
url = http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20170537,00.html
accessdate = 2008-06-15 ]

In June 2008, AFI revealed its "Ten top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. "When Harry Met Sally" was acknowledged as the sixth best film in the romantic comedy genre. [cite news | publisher = American Film Institute | title = AFI's 10 Top 10 | date = 2008-06-17 | url = http://www.afi.com/10top10/romanticcomedy.html | accessdate=2008-06-18]

In early 2004, the film was adapted for the stage in a Theatre Royal Haymarket production starring Luke Perry and Alyson Hannigan. [cite news
last = Inverne
first = James
title = Hannigan and Perry's "Harry and Sally" Set to Face the London Press
publisher = Playbill News
date = February 20, 2004
url = http://www.playbill.com/news/article/84473.html
accessdate = 2007-11-26 ] Molly Ringwald and Michael Landes later replaced Hannigan and Perry for the second cast. [cite news
last = Inverne
first = James
title = Landes Joins Ringwald For London "When Harry Met Sally"
publisher = Playbill News
date = May 17, 2004
url = http://www.playbill.com/news/article/86191.html
accessdate = 2007-11-26 ]

DVD

"When Harry Met Sally..." was released on DVD January 9, 2001, and included an audio commentary by Reiner, 35-minute "Making Of" documentary featuring interviews with Reiner, Ephron, Ryan, and Crystal, seven deleted scenes, and a music video for "It Had To Be You" by Harry Connick, Jr. [cite news
last = Richter
first = Erin
title = "When Harry Met Sally...": Special Edition
publisher = "Entertainment Weekly"
date = January 12, 2001
url = http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,279400,00.html
accessdate = 2007-06-20 ] A Collector's Edition DVD was released on January 15, 2008, including a new audio commentary with Reiner, Ephron, and Crystal, eight deleted scenes, all new featurettes ("It All Started Like This", "Stories Of Love", "When Rob Met Billy", "Billy On Harry", "I Love New York", "What Harry Meeting Sally Meant", "So Can Men And Women Really Be Friends?"), and the original theatrical trailer.

References

External links

* [http://www.whenharrymetsallythemovie.com/ Official site]
*
*
*
*
*