Rob Reiner

When Harry Met Sally… (1989)

The Great Movie Re-Watch

When Harry Met Sally… (1989)

Director:

Rob Reiner

Writer:

Nora Ephron

Starring:

Billy Crystal

Meg Ryan

Carrie Fisher

Bruno Kirby

Blurb:

Harry and Sally have known each other for years, and are very good friends, but they fear sex would ruin the friendship.

Thoughts:

When Harry Met Sally… is one of the best romance movies ever made. So many of the movies I’ve watched recently haven’t aged particularly well, but that wasn’t the case with When Harry Met Sally… Yeah, it would have been nice if college Billy Crystal hadn’t been so obsessed with sex, but it was a pretty good representation of a specific section of college man. Maybe not the same group as originally intended, but I’m sure many college guys still believe that men and women can’t be friends.

Watching the evolution of Crystal and Ryan’s relationship is awesome. It could have so easily been too dramatic, it’s the type of story that would work as a straight drama, but the comedy makes it the fantastic movie it is.

Both characters are filled with quirks, but I wondered if Ryan’s character was on the spectrum. Her whole putting the envelopes in the mailbox one at a time and how the sheets had to be a certain way when she slept seemed at least a bit OCD. The way she ordered her food takes picky to the extreme, and yet she had a freaking coconut cake at her wedding. That is one of the meanest things you can do to wedding guests. I will never forget the disappointment I felt as a child after suffering through a horribly long wedding ceremony only to be given yucky coconut cake. It was an unforgivable betrayal.

Crystal plays the same character as he does in most of the movies I’ve watched him in, but he grows. He goes from the college bro who doesn’t believe men and women can be friends to being good friends with a woman. Eventually, yes, their feelings change, but they are friends for a while before that happens. Friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes. I married my best friend, so I love reading it happen to other people.

When Harry Met Sally… is famous for a particular scene involving Ryan in a delicatessen. I can’t listen to this scene. I don’t consider myself a prude, but it makes me so uncomfortable that I have to either fast-forward or mute it while it’s happening. I try, but it’s too intimate and makes me embarrassed, so I can’t watch.

On the other side of things, when Crystal has his declaration at the end, I’ve got a big stupid grin on my face, and I can’t look away. There’s a reason this film is on all the big lists. Not just romance lists, either. It is all around a great movie.

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The Princess Bride (1987)

The Great Movie Re-Watch

The Princess Bride (1987)

Director:

Rob Reiner

Writer:

William Goldman

Starring:

Cary Elwes

Robin Wright

Mandy Patinkin

Chris Sarandon

Christopher Guest

Wallace Shawn

André the Giant

Blurb:

While home sick in bed, a young boy’s grandfather reads him the story of a farmboy-turned-pirate who encounters numerous obstacles, enemies and allies in his quest to be reunited with his true love.

Thoughts:

The Princess Bride is my movie. When someone asks me that awful question, what’s my favorite film, The Princess Bride, is my answer. I used to have the entire thing memorized. My friends and I would take turns quoting the whole thing. One time when I was bored at work, I recited it for a coworker, including acting out the fighting scene on the cliffs of insanity. When I say The Princess Bride is my movie, I mean that it is the movie that had the most significant impact on my life, except for maybe Star Wars.

I’ve introduced a few people to The Princess Bride, and without fail, they enjoy it. It is one of those rare films that is perfect. There is nothing I would change. I’ve had it on VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray, and digital. I’ve got the criterion collections version. I’ve got t-shirts and the board game. This is my movie.

I’m not claiming to be its biggest fan. Not even close. But The Princess Bride is my ultimate comfort movie. I fall asleep to it because I can close my eyes and visualize the entire thing. I love it.

The American President (1995)


The American President (1995)

Director:

Rob Reiner

Starring:

Michael Douglas

Annette Bening

Plot:

Comedy-drama about a widowed U.S. President and a lobbyist who fall in love. It’s all above-board, but “politics is perception”, and sparks fly anyway.

Review:

The world was a different place when this was written. Kind of. I mean, yeah, the environment and guns were still a huge issues, but we actually thought they could be solved. We were innocent.

In the past I’ve liked this movie. It’s from Aaron Sorkin, so it definitely idealizes the American government but it’s also much more believable than the movie Dave. Now, though, it’s depressing to watch. It’s really impossible to watch and ignore the politics of everything and just take it as a romance. He’s the president, she’s a lobbyist. The politics are enmeshed in everything.

Maybe in another time I’ll be able to watch this again and enjoy it. I really hope so, I used to love re-watching West Wing. My heart just can’t handle it right now.

4/5

 

When Harry Met Sally (1989)

When Harry Met Sally

When Harry Met Sally (1989)

Director:

Rob Reiner

Starring:

Billy Crystal

Meg Ryan

Carrie Fisher

Plot:

Harry and Sally have known each other for years, and are very good friends, but they fear sex would ruin the friendship.

Review:

They just do not make romantic comedies like this anymore. Love this movie and enjoy it every time I watch it.

Harry and Sally meet each other, don’t really like each other, then meet again years later. Second time around they tolerate each other, still go their separate ways. It’s not until like eleven years after the initial meet that they become friends. Their friendship is so genuine and sweet that you could almost end the movie there, but it continues and they fall in love and they deal with the issues that arise.

Love it.

5/5