When Harry Met Sally…
Man, I miss Rob Reiner so much. I don’t know how, or why, I waited so long to watch this. It’s always been high on my watchlist, and I just haven’t gotten to it. But now, I have even more respect for Reiner and his craft than I already had. He really was remarkable in what he did. And this was nominated for Best Original Screenplay for a reason. From the very first second, I was completely hooked, which is usually tricky for a film to do to me. Not that I don’t get into them, it’s just I usually take a few minutes to fully settle. But this one, just the very first scene had me interested in the characters and their future relationship. One thing I would love to do is talk to Richard Linklater to see if this film had any kind of influence on his Before trilogy. Reason being is because this film is very dialogue centric, and has similar themes of love, connection, and trust. Also for some reason, the story in this felt very personal, even though I didn’t necessarily relate to the characters or events that take place. I mean, I completely connected with Harry, just because we’re both lonely males. But even though I couldn’t connect with the whole relationship aspect and marriage/divorce stuff, I feel like everything in this film was just….me. Maybe that makes zero sense. But I stand by that. The performances were all pretty great, and the duo of Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan was absolutely phenomenal, and their chemistry was off the charts. They felt so natural together, and each one brought a very unique flare to their characters. By the time this ended, I felt like I could easily watch an entire cinematic universe of just them. And it’s such a beautifully shot film, using the different seasons to heighten the mood and show the passage of time. Lastly, the soundtrack was one of my favorite’s ever, with such tasteful uses of Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong, and a great score arranged by the immaculate Harry Connick Jr. Overall, it’s a fantastic film that’s right near the top of Reiner’s best work, and one I will most definitely be watching again. I would recommend it to everyone to see at some point in their life. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go watch it now!