"Men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way."

Harry Burns and Sally Albright have been meeting each other every few years following an uncomfortable car sharing experience in their high school days. Despite radically differing views on life and relationships they slowly grow to become best friends. Can their relationship progress beyond this or will Harry's fears that men and women can never really be friends because of the "sex" thing put an end to this?

"I'll have what she's having."


skyjude review
This is probably the definitive relationship movie thanks mainly to the fact that it doesn't hide from the true feelings men and women have for each other. With characters built largely on the real life experiences and views of both director Rob Reiner and writer Nora Ephron, this is a delight of verbal sparring and acutely observed relationship issues. Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan sparkle together and the sometimes improvised moments really do add to the chemistry these two so obviously shared. With great support from Bruno Kirby and Carrie Fisher this movie deserves to be remembered for a lot more than just "that" scene. Rob Reiner adds yet another hit to his impressive resume of comedy classics while Billy Crystal again creates bewilderment that he didn't embrace more movies with his comedy genius.

Top 5 Reasons for Watching When Harry Met Sally...

[5] The soundtrack
Some glorious tunes are interspersed throughout the movie capturing the laid back, almost swing style of the film itself. Strangely, the CD soundtrack released was full of Harry Connick Jr versions while the film itself used the original classics. Either way you'll be hard pushed to stop singing "It had to be you…" long after the credits roll.

[4] The ending
A quality film like this deserved a better ending than the usual romantic comedies, and in Billy Crystal's superb spiel about how Meg Ryan ordered sandwiches we got it. In keeping with the rest of the movie, we see a much more honest end to the romance than other movies of this ilk.

[3] That scene
The orgasm scene received so much publicity that most people felt they'd seen it before they'd actually watched the movie. As such it could have been an anti-climax (pun intentional) if it wasn't for the killer last line (penned by Billy Crystal and voiced by Rob Reiner's mother). Will still be found in lists of classic movie scenes for many years to come.

[2] Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan
The always brilliant Billy Crystal positively sparkles with Meg Ryan in her career defining role. Their on screen chemistry is the sort of thing directors can only pray for and the real make or break element of any romantic comedy. Even from the beginning of the film where their radically differing characters despise each other, we find ourselves willing them together.

[1] The screenplay
With the excellent foundations of Rob Reiner and Nora Ephron's own characteristics, Ephron pens a marvellous screenplay defining this great movie. Each line is a carefully considered take on the he said, she said wordplay that separates the genders. Essentially built around the premise that a man and woman can never truly be friends because of the "sex" thing, this is the ultimate take on the battle of the sexes.


When Harry Met Sally... quotes

Harry Burns: You realise of course that we could never be friends.
Sally Albright: Why not?
Harry Burns: What I'm saying is. And this is not a come-on in any way, shape or form. Is that men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way.
Sally Albright: That's not true. I have a number of men friends and there is no sex involved.
Harry Burns: No you don't.
Sally Albright: Yes I do.
Harry Burns: No you don't.
Sally Albright: Yes I do.
Harry Burns: You only think you do.
Sally Albright: You say I'm having sex with these men without my knowledge?
Harry Burns: No, what I'm saying is they all want to have sex with you.
Sally Albright: They do not.
Harry Burns: Do too.
Sally Albright: They do not.
Harry Burns: Do too.
Sally Albright: How do you know?
Harry Burns: Because no man can be friends with a woman that he finds attractive. He always wants to have sex with her.
Sally Albright: So, you're saying that a man can be friends with a woman he finds unattractive?
Harry Burns: No. You pretty much want to nail them too.
Sally Albright: What if they don't want to have sex with you?
Harry Burns: Doesn't matter because the sex thing is already out there so the friendship is ultimately doomed and that is the end of the story.
Sally Albright: Well, I guess we're not going to be friends then.
Harry Burns: I guess not.
Sally Albright: That's too bad. You were the only person I knew in New York.

Sally Albright: Its amazing. You look like a normal person but actually you are the angel of death.

Sally Albright: The first date back is always the toughest, Harry.
Harry Burns: You only had one date. How do you know it's not going to get worse?
Sally Albright: How much worse can it get than finishing dinner, having him reach over, pull a hair out of my head and start flossing with it at the table?
Harry Burns: We're talking dream date compared to my horror.

Jess: Emily is terrific.
Harry Burns: Yeah. But of course when I asked where she was when Kennedy was shot she said, "Ted Kennedy was shot?".

Sally Albright: Most women at one time or another have faked it.
Harry Burns: Well, they haven't faked it with me.
Sally Albright: How do you know?
Harry Burns: Because I know.
Sally Albright: Oh. Right. Thats right. I forgot. You're a man.
Harry Burns: What was that supposed to mean?
Sally Albright: Nothing. Its just that all men are sure it never happened to them and all women at one time or other have done it so you do the math.

Sally Albright: When Joe and I started seeing each other, we wanted exactly the same thing. We wanted to live together, but we didn't want to get married because every time anyone we knew got married, it ruined their relationship. They practically never had sex again. It's true, it's one of the secrets that no one ever tells you. I would sit around with my girlfriends who have kids and, actually, my one girlfriend who has kids, Alice, and she would complain about how she and Gary never did it anymore. She didn't even complain about it, now that I think about it. She just said it matter-of-factly. She said they were up all night, they were both exhausted all the time, the kids just took every sexual impulse they had out of them. And Joe and I used to talk about it, and we'd say we were so lucky we have this wonderful relationship, we can have sex on the kitchen floor and not worry about the kids walking in. We can fly off to Rome on a moment's notice. And then one day I was taking Alice's little girl for the afternoon because I'd promised to take her to the circus, and we were in the cab playing "I Spy" - I spy a mailbox, I spy a lamp-post - and she looked out the window and she saw this man and this woman with these two little kids. And the man had one of the little kids on his shoulders, and she said, "I spy a family." And I started to cry. You know, I just started crying. And I went home, and I said, "The thing is, Joe, we never do fly off to Rome on a moment's notice."
Harry Burns: And the kitchen floor?
Sally Albright: Not once. It's this very cold, hard Mexican ceramic tile.

Harry Burns: Right now everything is great, everyone is happy, everyone is in love and that is wonderful. But you gotta know that sooner or later you're gonna be screaming at each other about who's gonna get this dish. This eight dollar dish will cost you a thousand dollars in phone calls to the legal firm of 'That's Mine, This Is Yours.'
Marie: Harry!
Harry Burns: Please, Jess, Marie. Do me a favor, for your own good, put your name in your books right now before they get mixed up and you won't know whose is whose. Because someday, believe it or not, you'll go fifteen rounds over who's gonna get this coffee table. This stupid, wagon wheel, Roy Rogers, garage sale coffee table!
Jess: I thought you liked it?
Harry Burns: I was being nice.

Sally Albright: Is Harry bringing anybody to the wedding?
Marie: I don't think so.
Sally Albright: Is he seeing anybody?
Marie: He was seeing this anthropologist, but -
Sally Albright: What's she look like?
Marie: Thin. Pretty. Big tits. Your basic nightmare.

Harry Burns: The fact that you're not answering leads me to believe you're either (a) not at home, (b) home but don't want to talk to me, or (c) home, desperately want to talk to me, but trapped under something heavy. If it's either (a) or (c), please call me back.

Harry Burns: I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realise you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.
Sally Albright: You see? That is just like you, Harry. You say things like that, and you make it impossible for me to hate you.


Production company: Castle Rock Entertainment, Nelson Entertainment