When Harry Met Sally... DVD

Director Rob Reiner's WHEN HARRY MET SALLY... is a comedy about the romantic travails of two neurotic New Yorkers who keep running into each other over a period of 13 years and form a friendship that constantly verges on romance. As the two stubbornly resist courting each other, they gradually realize there may be no two people more qualified to be in love in this delightful, anecdotal film.

WHEN HARRY MET SALLY... tracks a star-crossed pair as they repeatedly drift apart and meet again over a span of 13 years and gradually fall madly, deeply, passionately into friendship, a friendship ever teetering on the edge of love. Harry meets Sally when they share a car ride to New York City upon graduation from the University of Chicago. A few minutes into the trip, the conversation between womanizing, neurotic Harry (Billy Crystal) and driven, equally neurotic Sally (Meg Ryan) becomes heatedly contentious. The question arises: Can a man and a woman be just friends? Harry contends this proposition is impossible, that sex will always come along to screw up the friendship. Sally is aghast and disagrees, proclaiming the idea a distinct possibility. The two part ways rather acrimoniously in New York but before long meet again and eventually decide to indeed be friends. As life's mysterious coincidences pull Harry and Sally closer together, they share mystical, tender moments, confess secrets to each other, console each other, attend major holidays together, and do all the other things couples traditionally do. The question then reemerges: Can Harry and Sally remain mere friends, or will they--must they--fall in love? And can anyone forget Ryan's classic faking-it scene in Katz's Deli?

Theatrical release: July 21, 1989. Limited release in New York City, San Francisco, San Jose, Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver: July 12, 1989. Released in Los Angeles on July 14, 1989. Shown at the Deauville Film Festival on September 4, 1989; the Tokyo International Film Festival on September 30, 1989; and the London Film Festival November 10-26, 1989. Filmed in New York City, New York; Hollywood and Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; and New Jersey. Shooting began on August 29, 1988, and was completed on November 15, 1988. Estimated budget between $15 and $17 million. Director Rob Reiner and close friend Billy Crystal were born just six days apart in New York City in March 1947. Screenwriter Nora Ephron wrote the scripts for other films such as SILKWOOD and MY BLUE HEAVEN before going on to direct films such as SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE and YOU'VE GOT MAIL. The scene where Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) spot each other at a bookstore takes place in a branch of the small chain Shakespeare & Co., which was located at 79th & Broadway in New York City. This location was one of many smaller stores which went out of business around the time a Barnes & Noble megastore opened in nearby Lincoln Center. This store and the stores which went out of business around it would be a model for the activity in the 1998 Nora Ephron film, YOU'VE GOT MAIL. The customer at Katz's Deli who wants to have what Sally is having is Estelle Reiner, Rob Reiner's mother and Carl Reiner's wife.

When Harry Met Sally... Quotes/Excerpts:

"I'll have what she's having."--Deli patron (Estelle Reiner--Rob's mother) after Sally has dramatically faked an orgasm in Katz's Deli

When Harry Met Sally... Reviews:

"...[Crystal and Ryan] are appealing and sometimes even unpredictable....Perfectly pleasant..." -- Caryn James, New York Times

"...This sweet, romantic fairy tale speaks for itself." -- Rating: B+ -- Erin Richter, Entertainment Weekly

"...Affection, as well as simmering wit, is definitely in the air....The results are charming..."-- Sheila Benson, Los Angeles Times

"...Warm-hearted..."-- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

"...A benchmark for laugh-packed rom-coms, filled with witty dialogue and classy comedy performances..." -- James White, Total Film

4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he two leads spout definite truisms from male and female perspectives, with amusing and endearing results."-- Simon Edwards, Ultimate DVD

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