← Back to Reviews
in
When Harry Met Sally (1989) https://letterboxd.com/smudgeefc1985...rry-met-sally/
So following my little bit in my Pretty Woman review about the two romcoms that I will argue to the death should be at the top of any great romcom list, here is the second. And to me, the absolute best in the genre. Pretty much every other romcom since has aspired to be this (hence we have had a slew of not so good ones through the 90s, though not all bad, still one or two gems to be picked up) and nothing has come close.
This is one of those films that is just a coming together of bits of everything, and every one of those aspects is perfect. Our script. It's brilliant. It is genuinely funny throughout, it is just full of gloriously funny lines and moments, and all kinds of funny. Some hilariously witty, others much more subtle but still have you laughing out loud. And it's not just the funny bits it nails. There are some lines in this that break my heart into pieces (Carrie Fisher's line to her husband about making sure she never has to date again is one of my all time favourites, and captures every existing horror there is of being single), and all of this brilliant script is pulled together by a brilliant cast.
Harry and Sally feel real. Neither are perfect, both are wrong at several points in the film, and both are massively flawed in their own lives, not just in their relationships with each other and those around them. Their growth feels real, and never for one minute contrived. The dislike from their first couple of meetings feels justified and they have nothing in common with each other. But when they meet again in that bookshop, their lives have changed over those 10 years and changed who they are, maturing them now into two people who do have something to offer each other. Pretty much every other romcom, even the better ones, at some point, feel contrived. This film is as honest and loyal a depiction of love growing between two people as has ever been concocted by Hollywood. I love it, easily one of my favourite films in any genre, and one that no matter how badly Im feeling, can give me back that hope all over again.
So following my little bit in my Pretty Woman review about the two romcoms that I will argue to the death should be at the top of any great romcom list, here is the second. And to me, the absolute best in the genre. Pretty much every other romcom since has aspired to be this (hence we have had a slew of not so good ones through the 90s, though not all bad, still one or two gems to be picked up) and nothing has come close.
This is one of those films that is just a coming together of bits of everything, and every one of those aspects is perfect. Our script. It's brilliant. It is genuinely funny throughout, it is just full of gloriously funny lines and moments, and all kinds of funny. Some hilariously witty, others much more subtle but still have you laughing out loud. And it's not just the funny bits it nails. There are some lines in this that break my heart into pieces (Carrie Fisher's line to her husband about making sure she never has to date again is one of my all time favourites, and captures every existing horror there is of being single), and all of this brilliant script is pulled together by a brilliant cast.
Harry and Sally feel real. Neither are perfect, both are wrong at several points in the film, and both are massively flawed in their own lives, not just in their relationships with each other and those around them. Their growth feels real, and never for one minute contrived. The dislike from their first couple of meetings feels justified and they have nothing in common with each other. But when they meet again in that bookshop, their lives have changed over those 10 years and changed who they are, maturing them now into two people who do have something to offer each other. Pretty much every other romcom, even the better ones, at some point, feel contrived. This film is as honest and loyal a depiction of love growing between two people as has ever been concocted by Hollywood. I love it, easily one of my favourite films in any genre, and one that no matter how badly Im feeling, can give me back that hope all over again.