Train of Thought Movie Club #3: 'When Harry Met Sally'
The Train of Thought Movie Club is a series about movies I love or admire: some great, some bad, some so bad they’re great. Each film will somehow be linked to the previous movie, like a cast or crew member in common, a similar theme, or just something that puts the two movies in the same sentence.
See the previous installment here!
Released: 1989
Directed by: The talented, the unmatched, the beloved Rob Reiner
Written by: Nora Ephron, of course.
Starring: The O.G. rom-com legends, Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. Also an all-time great turn by Carrie Fisher and a delightful supporting performance by Bruno Kirby.
On this season of Unsolved Mysteries: How did Harry and Sally have so much free time? Columbia Pictures/Alamy.
My Synopsis
The simplest idea for a rom-com: two people drive to New York as acquaintances after finishing college, run into each other a few years later while in long-term relationships, run into each other again when those relationships have ended, and become best friends. They don’t go on a goofy international road trip, participate in a workplace scheme to make someone fall in love or break up with them, or secretly fall for each other while planning one of their weddings. There’s no deceiving a loved one, or going against better judgment, or hurting a friend in the name of true love. It’s just the everyday lives of upper middle class New Yorkers in the late ‘80s: restaurants and parties, walking around Manhattan, and goofing off in The Sharper Image store.
Connection to Our Previous Installment
This movie is triply linked to “The American President:’ the most prosaic one is that they’re both directed by Rob Reiner. It’s not, however, the most important link. You may be thinking, “OK, well then the key link is obviously iconic short haircuts.” You’re right, but you’re also wrong. The most essential link is: they’re both movies in which Christmas is heavily featured in one or more scenes, but not quite enough to make them true Christmas movies. Obviously.
My Take: Mr. Reiner, Please Make This Movie Six Hours Longer, And Then I’ll Finally Be Happy
In the world of ‘When Harry Met Sally,’ no one is ‘too focused on their career’ to make time for love, no one has overbearing parents or sycophantic bosses, there are no elaborate lies about fake fiancés that lead to musical numbers in restaurants, or all-knowing bartenders who solve your problems. The best friend character finds true love early on in the movie, has her own side story, and her outlook on life is completely disconnected from the wellbeing of the heroine. (Marie is truly a unicorn in the world of rom-com BFFs.)
To be honest, this is not my favorite romantic comedy– but within the realm of its genre, it’s one of the best-crafted ones. Very little actually happens in this movie– in the best possible way– which has gone very poorly for many a lesser screenwriter. As many have noted, this movie kicked off the first modern romantic comedy era (which ended in 2009), giving us many of the best-loved movies of our generation: ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding,’ ‘There’s Something About Mary,’ ‘Father of the Bride,’ ‘Notting Hill,’ ‘The Forty Year Old Virgin,’ ‘Groundhog Day,’ and ‘Clueless,’ to name just a few. Romances, especially ones starring famous attractive people, suddenly became bankable projects, and we all benefitted from studios rushing to make the next great one. Growing up with these movies, I didn’t fully appreciate them, thinking there would just always be another great rom-com in the works. Little did I know they would be almost extinct by the time I was a senior in college. Who or what was to blame? Well, that’s another post for another time! (Short answers: East Asian markets. Vin Diesel. And Tony Stark.)
Watch This Movie If
You miss landlines; you love the Met; you like scenes in shows or movies where someone is really bad at Pictionary and everyone is yelling terrible guesses (I think this is the original example!); you want to remember how nuts ‘80s wedding dresses were.
Up Next
Aaaaanyway, we clearly owe a lot to ‘When Harry Met Sally,’ including my actual favorite romantic comedy… coming soon, on Train of Thought Movie Club!
No caption necessary, except to note that Carrie Fisher still looks great in this.