With Valentine’s Day approaching, Octagon staffers are reviewing movies that will put you and your special someone (or perhaps just you) in the right romantic mood. (Also see A hot guy, a ditzy friend, a happy ending, and an armed robbery—’Clueless’ has it all and Get your ice cream and popcorn—’Like Crazy’ is going to be an emotional roller coaster)
As a self-proclaimed romantic comedy aficionado, I think I’m pretty knowledgeable on what constitutes a good rom-com. I’m not ashamed to admit that Julia Roberts and Jennifer Aniston have seen me through many failed tests and broken hearts.
So if you’ve had trouble finding that perfect feel-good, cheesy Valentine’s Day weekend movie, rest easy: I’ve got just what you need.
“When Harry Met Sally” is a true classic: the story of two unlikely friends living in New York City, pursuing their dreams. The film dives into the timeless cinematic debate over whether men and women can be friends with each other without eventually having sex.
Directed by Rob Reiner, it stars Meg Ryan as the slightly know-it-all Sally and Billy Crystal as the carefree, yet pessimistic, Harry.
Of course, because the movie was made in 1989, Billy Crystal is a younger, more youthful character, as is Meg Ryan.
The movie begins with Harry and Sally sharing a ride together from the University of Chicago to their new lives in New York City, Sally as a journalist and Harry as a political consultant.
Sally is taken aback by Harry’s frankness about the relationship between women and men. They decide that they can’t become friends because they would eventually become attracted to each other, and their friendship would be ruined.
The story fast-forwards five years where they meet again (what a coincidence) in an airport. This time they’re both in relationships, but they still go back to the conversation about men/women friendships. After the flight, they go their separate ways again, but it seems as if fate will bring them together again.
What Harry and Sally have is a quick-witted repartee, with Harry coming up with snappy one-liners, and Sally, the more subdued of the two, turning up the heat in more nuanced ways but with equally memorable comebacks.
They meet once more, five years later, where they realize that they actually have a lot in common and decide that being from the opposite sex won’t complicate their friendship.
After this, they become best friends, and, of course, help each other through all their messy breakups and hookups.
I think you can guess what happens in the end, of course after a few miscommunications and bumps in the road. All in all, this movie will make you laugh and forget all about that stupid guy (or girl) who never called you back.
I think we all deserve a Billy Crystal who will listen to our pointless dramas over and over again, and always answer when we call.
And after all, who needs a special someone on Valentine’s Day when you have Meg Ryan faking an orgasm in the middle of a crowded diner?
I’ll have what she’s having.
