Rob Reiner released one of the greatest romantic comedy movies of all time in the 1980s, and it changed everything about the genre. When Reiner moved into directing, he started with a rock and roll mockumentary before he made his first rom-com in The Sure Thing. Four years later, Reiner directed his best rom-com movie.
When Harry Met Sally had a perfect mix of ingredients that made it a massive success. One of the greatest rom-com screenwriters of all time, Nora Ephron, penned the script, with Reiner directing, and Meg Ryan, one of the rom-com queens, starring alongside Billy Crystal. What resulted was pure magic.
Rob Reiner Revolutionized Rom-Coms With When Harry Met Sally
Rob Reiner helped revolutionize the rom-com genre along with Nora Ephron with When Harry Met Sally. Most rom-coms are typically set up as one of two formats. One is a cute boy meeting a cute girl, and they fall in love while facing various obstacles. The other style finds two people who meet and don’t get along, but they somehow fall in love anyway.
However, When Harry Met Sally subverted these themes and the expectations that go along with them. The film looked like it would be set up like the latter of the two previous examples, with Harry and Sally meeting in 1977 and not getting along. However, they didn’t end up falling in love. They became the best of friends.
When Harry Met Sally isn’t a movie about two people falling in love and finding a way to make it work. Instead, it is a film about two best friends who have to deal with the problems that arise when they realize there is an attraction.
Interestingly, the original ending of When Harry Met Sally didn’t see them together romantically. Rob Reiner said he wasn’t going to have them end up together because he was married for a decade and single for another, and he didn’t see how people at this stage of their lives could end up with each other.
Something changed. Rob Reiner met his future wife while making When Harry Met Sally, and the two fell in love during this time. As a result, he saw how it could happen and changed the ending to the 1988 New Year’s Eve party where Harry declared his love for Sally. Reiner’s luck in love changed When Harry Met Sally’s ending.
This changed how people looked at rom-coms for years. A movie didn’t need to have two young cute stars falling in love. It could have two adults who find love, even when they didn’t believe it was possible. It has inspired an incredible list of great movies over the years, and it remains one of Rob Reiner’s masterpieces.
Nora Ephron was nominated for an Oscar for her screenplay, and in 2022, the Library of Congress added When Harry Met Sally to the National Film Registry.
In the late 1980s, Julia Roberts had established herself as the queen of the rom-com. However, When Harry Met Sally ensured that Meg Ryan’s name was added to the conversation. Ryan won an American Comedy Award for her performance and her first of three Golden Globe nominations, all of which were for rom-coms.
This led to her becoming the new rom-com go-to name in the 1990s. In 1993, she starred in another seminal rom-com with Nora Ephron’s Sleepless in Seattle, where she starred alongside Tom Hanks. Once again, it was a great adult romantic comedy that proved the stars didn’t need to be teenagers.
Meg Ryan was nominated for her second Golden Globe Award for Sleepless in Seattle, which also received two Oscar nominations (screenplay and Best Original Score). She then turned out a series of amazing rom-coms, including French Kiss, City of Angels, You’ve Got Mail, and Kate & Leopold.
Rob Reiner’s Mother Stole The Movie In One Scene
It is impossible to discuss When Harry Met Sally without talking about its most memorable scene. While the story is what makes it one of the greatest romantic comedies of all time, there is one scene that everyone knows. Meg Ryan’s Sally Albright proves in a crowded diner that she can fake an orgasm masterfully.
However, there is a twist to the scene. After Ryan delivers the pitch-perfect fake orgasm, embarrassing Billy Crystal’s Harry Burns in the process, the camera then flips over to a random woman in the restaurant. She looks at her waiter and hilariously says, “I’ll have what she’s having.”
The best thing about this scene is that the actress was Rob Reiner’s mother, Estelle Reiner. Reiner is a second-generation star, as his father was comedian Carl Reiner, the man who created The Dick Van Dyke Show, with Van Dyke playing a fictional version of Carl Reiner himself. Rob Reiner once said, “My mother was Mary Tyler Moore.“
The American Film Institute listed Estelle Reiner’s line of dialogue as one of the top 100 movie quotations of all time. In the end, When Harry Met Sally remains one of the most influential and beloved rom-coms of all time, and Rob Reiner ensured his mother would be forever remembered thanks to this small role.
When Harry Met Sally
10/10
- Release Date
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July 21, 1989
- Runtime
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95 minutes
- Director
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Rob Reiner
- Writers
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Nora Ephron
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