Star Wars: The Force Awakens

In 1999, the highly anticipated Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace was released and soon followed by subsequent installments, Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). Returning to the director’s chair for the first time since Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in 1977, George Lucas chronicled the tumultuous events that preceded the adventures of Luke Skywalker. While a massive financial success, the Prequel Trilogy was roasted by film critics and derided by a significant portion of the franchise’s fanbase, many of whom had grown up with the Original Trilogy. Personally, I felt that Lucas had betrayed the essential elements that made those movies so magical and so special for me at such an impressionable age. The real issue I have with these movies was Lucas’ inability to recreate the feeling of excitement and wonderment of seeing the Original Trilogy for the first time and how it captivated my imagination.

After Revenge of the Sith, Lucas said that he would not make any more Star Wars movies. I resigned myself to the idea that never in my lifetime would I be able to return to Tatooine or see the Millennium Falcon fly through space, which were a part of a rich universe that has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.

In October 2012, he sold the Star Wars franchise to Disney and shortly thereafter it was announced that J.J. Abrams would be directing a new movie entitled, The Force Awakens (2015). It would take place approximately 30 years after Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) and not only introduce a new generation of characters played by the likes of John Boyega, Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley, but also see the return of cast members from the Original Trilogy such as Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill reprising their much beloved characters.

Burned by the Prequel Trilogy, I was understandably wary of this new movie but any lingering doubts were put to rest by a strategic media blitz that reassured the faithful that Abrams was one of us. He would be shooting this new movie on film stock instead of digitally as Lucas had done with the prequels, he would be shooting on location instead of green screen soundstages, putting an emphasis on practical effects over CGI, including building a full-scale Millennium Falcon, and, most significantly, bringing back Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote the screenplays for Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi, to co-write this new movie with him.

Years after the events depicted in Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) has gone off the grid after an attempt to create a new order of Jedi went disastrously wrong, resulting in his apprentice Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) going over to the Dark Side where he soon became a leading figure in the First Order, a group that rose out of the ashes of the Galactic Empire and bent on continuing Darth Vader’s plans. To this end, they want to find Luke and kill him thereby eliminating the Jedi for good. The Resistance, led by Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), also wants to find Luke and send their best pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and his loyal droid BB-8 to find him. This takes him to the planet of Jakku where he is subsequently captured by the First Order.

Meanwhile, a reluctant First Order Stormtrooper (John Boyega) witnesses a horrible massacre of a village on Jakku and decides that he can no longer be a part of this destructive group and helps Poe escape. They return to Jakku and are separated after the Tie Fighter they stole is shot down and crashes. Eventually renaming himself Finn, he accidentally crosses paths with a scavenger named Rey (Daisy Ridley) who has found BB-8 with the coordinates to Luke’s whereabouts. They run afoul of Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) and team up to get Luke’s location to the Resistance who is gearing up to stop the First Order’s Starkiller Base, a planet converted into a superweapon that makes the previous Death Stars look like tinker toys. This new base absorbs the power of a nearby sun and redirects the energy into a blast that is capable of destroying multiple planets simultaneously.

Unlike Lucas, Abrams knows how to work with actors, especially younger ones, and get the best performances out of them. All the newcomers to the Star Wars universe acquit themselves admirably with John Boyega, Adam Driver and, especially, Daisy Ridley being the heart and soul of The Force Awakens. All three bring their characters vividly to life. Driver wisely doesn’t play Ren as a one-note villain and is given the screen-time to portray someone struggling with inner demons that threaten to engulf him. There is a satisfying character arc to Ren as he succumbs completely to the Dark Side of the Force. Ridley’s character represents hope as Rey embraces the Light Side. She is a strong-willed character more than capable of handling herself and the young actress brings an undeniable charm and charisma to the role as she does an excellent job of showing how Rey comes into her own over the course of the movie. She is smart, proactive and more than capable of getting herself out a jam. Ridley’s performance is the kind of exciting breakout role that Elle Fanning did in Abrams’ Super 8 (2011).

Boyega’s Finn is somewhere in the middle between Ren and Finn, starting off on the wrong side but as the movie progresses he makes a choice by taking a side and believing in something. Boyega also gets the bulk of the movie’s humorous moments, demonstrating fantastic comic timing and then turning on a dime when it comes to the more dramatic scenes. The scenes between him and Ridley are among some of the strongest in the movie. Initially, Finn and Rey have somewhat of an antagonistic relationship that develops into something more meaningful as they learn to trust each other with their lives. The chemistry between them is excellent and feels genuine. Unfortunately, Oscar Isaac is given not as much screen-time as I would have liked. Poe shows up early on only to disappear for most of the movie and reappears near the end in deus ex machina fashion.

For fans of the Original Trilogy there is a definite nostalgic thrill in seeing Han Solo, Leia, Chewbacca and other characters again. The introduction of each one gives off its own unique emotional spark and then they are seamlessly integrated into the narrative with Han and Chewie, not surprisingly, getting some of the best moments in the movie as they banter back forth just like old times. I couldn’t help but tear up a bit when Han steps back onto the Millennium Falcon for the first time after all these years and Ford’s expression said it all, which made me wonder just how much of it was acting on his part. The veteran actor hasn’t looked this engaged in a role in a long time and it looks like he’s having a great time slipping on the blaster again. Sadly, Carrie Fisher’s Leia is mostly relegated to the sidelines in what I can only assume is a symbolic passing of the torch to Ridley’s Rey.

Clearly Abrams learned from the mistakes of the Prequel Trilogy by jettisoning annoying offensive characters like Jar Jar, utilizing actual locations whenever possible (the last scene in particular is breathtaking) and relying more on practical effects, which gives The Force Awakens a tangible quality – something that had gone missing since the Original Trilogy. Most importantly, this movie has an emotional weight and heart to it, which was sorely lacking from the prequels. For example, The Phantom Menace introduced a cool-looking villain named Darth Maul only to kill him off at the end of the movie, but it didn’t mean anything because we knew nothing about him – his fears or his motivation. Not so with Ren and this is what makes him a much more interesting character and formidable antagonist.

Structurally, The Force Awakens is a carbon copy of A New Hope albeit with a few variations but this seems intentional as Abrams and Kasdan are saying that those that don’t learn from the past are condemned to repeat it and this certainly applies to the First Order as they stubbornly follow in the footsteps of the Galactic Empire like some kind of perverse intergalactic version of Groundhog Day (1993). It should be interesting to see where the next installment takes it from here.

How does this Star Wars junkie feel about the first Lucas-less movie? Honestly, I’m ambivalent about it all. On the one hand, the franchise was his baby. Lucas became a legend on the shoulders of the Original Trilogy and rightly so. Almost 40 years in, my friends and I continue to gleefully debate which movie is the best. For years, we had cast Lucas out as the Darth Vader of his own universe, banished for the sin of betraying our childhood memories by constantly tinkering with his movies with needless changes. Over the years, he had gone from being an upstart rebel filmmaker to the emperor of his own vast empire. He had made the classic mistake of getting high on his own supply and had to have his own creation taken away if it was to thrive and survive thereby giving the world a new hope. By selling Star Wars to Disney, Lucas made the most beautiful sacrifice a parent can make for their children. He had to walk away from it all and let someone else take the reins and that couldn’t have been an easy thing to do.

In many respects, The Force Awakens acts as a bridge, transitioning from the Original Trilogy to a new generation. As a result, Abrams gets to have his nostalgia cake and eat it too by giving fans what they want and then building from it. Best of all, he has instilled his passion for Star Wars in every frame of this movie in a way that Lucas was unable to in the Prequel Trilogy. I was pleasantly surprised at how much this movie affected me emotionally and how invested I became in it. The Force Awakens is an unabashed entertaining and engaging movie that managed to recapture the sense of wonder from the Original Trilogy and transport me back to a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

Star Wars Blogathon: Episode IV: A New Hope

BLOGGER'S NOTE: This post is part of the Star Wars Blogathon over at the SciFIDrive blog.

For many of my generation, the first Star Wars film (1977) was a defining moment of our childhood and so I always look back at it in a nostalgic way. I had the action figures, the coloring book, the calendar, the t-shirt, and so on – all part of the vast merchandising that helped build the George Lucas empire. But as a kid I wasn’t thinking about that – I loved the film and wanted to have everything associated with it, including the comic books and the novelization. The Star Wars I love is the original incarnation unmolested by Lucas’ awkward revisionist CGI makeover. The Star Wars I know and love has Han Solo (Harrison Ford) firing first. The film has been analyzed and written about extensively so I can only look at it from my perspective and offer various observations that always stick out in my mind whenever I watch it.

One of the reasons Star Wars works so well is because of a solid combination of engaging storytelling and groundbreaking (for its time) special effects. The coming-of-age story is as old as the hills and I’m sure that is part of the film’s appeal – its comforting familiarity. Young Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) leaves behind his life on a small, insignificant planet and becomes involved in an intergalactic civil war that involves rescuing a princess from the clutches of an evil empire. In the process, he grows up and becomes a man.

I still get goosebumps when I see that opening text, “A long time ago. In a galaxy far, far away...” And then, John Williams’ rousing score kicks in with a sudden blast from the horn section and we’re on our way. We get that iconic shot of the small Rebel Alliance spacecraft being pursued by an Empire Star Destroyer so massive it takes up at least three-quarters of the screen as it rumbles into view. We soon meet two of the film’s most endearing characters – C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), droids that have a sometimes slapstick-y love/hate relationship a la Laurel and Hardy. 3PO is the eternal pessimist as evident from his declaration early on, “We’re doomed.” Of course, this is as the Empire prepares to board the Rebel spacecraft. 3PO and R2 play well off each other – the former whines about danger and complains about the conditions of Tatooine (the planet they escape to), while the latter clearly has a purpose, a mission that he must complete with or without his long-time companion. They bicker like an old married couple and even on his own, 3PO still bitches about R2.

Has there ever been a cooler introduction for a villain than the one for Darth Vader (David Prowse)? Having boarded the Rebel ship by force, he emerges from the smoke to survey the damage done. We immediately hear his ominous breathing, that unsettling raspy respirator sound – awesome! We soon hear James Earl Jones’ booming, authoritative voice (later on the voice of CNN no less!) which, coupled with David Prowse’s intimidating physical presence and the brilliantly black armor, creates an instantly memorable bad guy, a real force of evil. Lucas constantly reminds us what a badass Vader is in scenes like the one where he deals with one of his officers who dares to scoff at the power of the Force compared to the power of Empire’s new battle station, The Death Star. Vader warns him, “Don’t be too proud of this technological terror you’ve constructed. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force.”

Unconvinced, the guy foolishly insults Vader’s “sad devotion to that ancient religion” and, in response, the Dark Lord merely raises a hand and chokes the man from afar. Vader coolly and ominously replies, “I find your lack of faith disturbing.” Now, how badass is that? It takes Peter Cushing’s bureaucrat Grand Moff Tarkin to step in and call Vader off. As evil as Vader is, Tarkin is on a whole other level. He destroys a planet populated by millions of innocent people just to make a point and teach Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) a lesson. How nasty is that? Vader just chokes a few guys which pales in comparison to what Tarkin does.

I always found it fascinating how the Jawas are basically the used car salesmen of the galaxy and they even try to pawn off a faulty droid to Luke and his Uncle Owen (Phil Brown). Mark Hamill’s take on Luke is right on the money, playing the character as a teenager on the verge of becoming a young man – someone who would rather pick up power converters over at Toschi Station than haggle over the price of droids with Jawas. His uncle sees right through Luke and chastises him, “You can waste time with your friends when your chores are done.” This little moment is one of the reasons why Star Wars appealed to a younger generation – they could relate to Luke’s disinterest in chores and his frustration of being stuck on his uncle’s farm. Who would rather hang out with their friends than get stuck doing boring chores? This is further reinforced in the scene where Luke talks to Aunt Beru (Shelagh Fraser) and Uncle Owen about transmitting his application to the Academy sooner rather than later but his uncle wants him to stick around for the harvest and another year. After Luke goes off in defeat, his aunt says, “Luke’s just not a farmer, Owen. He has too much of his father in him,” to which Owen replies, “That’s what I’m afraid of.” This conversation cleverly hints at earth-shattering revelations that come in the next film in the series, The Empire Strikes Back (1980). I just want to say how much I love the little moments of domesticity that Lucas shows here with Luke having a meal with his aunt and uncle or another scene where we see Aunt Beru (who I always struck by what a kind face she has and what a gentle person she appears to be) preparing some sort of meal. It humanizes these people in a short amount of time so that we care about what happens to them later on.

What I also like about the story is that Lucas makes it personal for Luke. His only reason for staying was to help out his aunt and uncle but when they are killed by Imperial Stormtroopers, his life as a farmboy dies that day. He’s got nothing left to lose and his innocence has been taken away from him forever. Lucas makes sure that we understand just how horrible the Empire is with a lingering shot of the aunt and uncle’s still smoking, charred skeletons, which was pretty shocking to me when I first saw the film at a very young, impressionable age. This scene ups the stakes and reinforces just how ruthless the Empire is and how personal it has gotten for Luke.

The casting of Alec Guinness as Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi was genius on Lucas’ part. With his classic British accent, he gives his dialogue a classy spin, perfect for the expositional dialogue his character imparts throughout the film. For example, early on he explains the nature of the Force to Luke: “The Force is what gives a Jedi his powers. It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, it penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together.” What a great way to describe the Force – it’s succinct and doesn’t give too much away, just enough to let our imagination fill in the rest.

One of the most memorable scenes in Star Wars takes place in the Cantina at Mos Eisley (a place that Obi-Wan warns Luke is a “wretched hive of scum and villainy.”), a bar where all sorts of strange and unusual creatures hang out. Of course, the purpose of this sequence is for Luke and Ben to meet and hire Han Solo and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) to rescue Leia, but it is also a fantastic showcase for a memorable collection of exotic-looking alien creatures. There’s one that looks a little like Cousin It from The Addams Family, one that looks like the Wolfman, one that kinda looks like a devil with two horns sprouting out of the top of his head, and so on. The diversity of these creatures is so fascinating that I just like rewatching this sequence to check out all of the various creatures. This sequence has gone on to inspire several other films, including Nightbreed (1990), Serenity (2005), and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008). The aliens in Star Wars don’t look cute and cuddly but strange and dangerous. Lucas reinforces this by having Luke bullied by two lowlifes until Obi-Wan steps in with his mad lightsaber skills.

How cool is Han Solo? We meet him haggling with Obi-Wan over the price of taking them to Alderaan and Han tries to impress his prospective clients with the speed and reputation of his spacecraft the Millennium Falcon. However, after their meeting, Han runs into Greedo, a bounty hunter collecting a sizable debt that the smuggler owes notorious gangster Jabba the Hutt. Han acts cool and casual, keeping Greedo talking while he quietly unholsters his gun and blasts the bounty hunter before he can shoot him. How badass is Han? Harrison Ford plays it so well – all cool and accommodating to Greedo so that he has time to get the drop on him. It’s this scene that establishes Ford’s character – is he a bad guy or a good guy? You’re never really sure until the end of the film and this is due in large part to Ford’s performance as a cocky smuggler who only looks out for himself.

I also like Han’s simple philosophy, like when he scoffs at the notion of the Force: “Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side ... I’ve flown from one side of the galaxy to the other. I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff but never seen anything to make me believe there’s one all powerful force controlling everything. There’s no mystical energy field controls my destiny. It’s all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense.” He provides a lot of the film’s moments of humor, like when Luke tries to convince him to rescue Leia by appealing to his greed, or his constant bickering with her. As he tells Luke at one point, “Wonderful girl. Either I’m gonna kill her or I’m beginning to like her.” Han and Leia end up bantering like a couple in a vintage screwball comedy and this is carried over to an even more memorable degree in The Empire Strikes Back.

Another exciting scene is the one where our heroes escape the Death Star while Han and Luke man the Falcon’s laser cannons. Lucas uses editing and Williams’ stirring score to make this scene even more dynamic. It’s a nice warm-up for the climactic sequence where a squadron of Rebel Alliance X-Wing fighters launch an attack on the Death Star. Not only do the Rebels have to worry about the Imperial TIE Fighters, but also the battle station’s laser cannons. Also adding urgency to the assault is the ever-looming threat of the Death Star on the verge of eradicating the Rebel base located on the moon of Yavin. Luke finally gets to show off his piloting skills while many of his comrades are blown up. It doesn’t hurt that he’s aided by Obi-Wan’s disembodied voice and the Force. The use of models in this sequence gives it a more tangible quality, a realness that is missing from most CGI-heavy science fiction films nowadays. This sequence gets even more exciting when Luke and the surviving Rebel X-Wings descend into the trenches of the Death Star to bomb its weak spot. Lucas is able to convey a real sense of speed and urgency that is thrilling, especially when the Millennium Falcon comes from out of nowhere to give Luke the opportunity to destroy the Death Star.

Some feel that Star Wars looks dated and I would agree but for me that is a large part of its appeal, sideburns and all. Watching it instantly takes me back to when I first saw it and the rush of excitement and wonder that I felt as it unspooled before my eyes. It is one of those pivotal moviegoing experiences that I have never forgotten. While I think that The Empire Strikes Back is the better film in terms of story, pacing, characterization, action, etc., Star Wars is the film I enjoy watching the most for all of the reasons stated above. I think that a review in the now-defunct Sci-Universe magazine sums it up best: “even today, would-be sci-fi franchise-builders haven’t learned the lessons about what made Star Wars a cinematic landmark; compelling, but flawed, characters and attention to the smallest pieces of minutiae.”

Feel free to share your memories and thoughts about Star Wars.

When Harry Met Sally...

Can men and women be friends without sex getting in the way? This is the question that When Harry Met Sally... (1989) asks and then wisely leaves up to the viewer to decide. Released in 1989, this romantic comedy is a classic example of the right people in the right place at the right time with Rob Reiner directing, Nora Ephron writing and Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan as the romantic leads with old standards re-interpreted by a then-up-and-coming singer Harry Connick, Jr. The results were amazing to say the least, launching the careers of the aforementioned into the stratosphere and creating a benchmark that every romantic comedy has since been judged by.

Harry Burns (Billy Crystal) meets Sally Albright (Meg Ryan) after they both graduate from university and share a car ride from Chicago to New York City. Along the way, they argue about the differences between men and women and Harry says that they can never be friends because sex always gets in the way, to which Sally disagrees. She finds him obnoxious and he thinks that she’s too uptight. Once Harry and Sally arrive in New York and go their separate ways, they figure that they will never see each other again. Over the years, Harry and Sally run into each other again during various stages in their lives and become friends. The film chronicles the development of their relationship.

In 1984, Rob Reiner, producer Andrew Scheinman and writer Nora Ephron met over several lunch meetings to develop a project together. The second meeting transformed into a long discussion about Reiner and Scheinman’s lives as single men. The next time they all met, Reiner said that he had always wanted to do a film about two people who become friends and don’t have sex because they know it will ruin their relationship but have sex anyway. Ephron liked the idea and Reiner put a deal in place at a studio. She then proceeded to interview him and Scheinman about their lives in order to have material to draw on. These interviews also provided the basis for Harry. In Ephron’s first draft, Harry and Sally did not end up together at the film’s end, which she felt was “the true ending,” as did Reiner until he met his future wife while making it and changed his mind.

At the time, Reiner was constantly depressed, pessimisitic yet very funny. Sally, in turn, was based on Ephron and some of her friends. When Crystal came on board the film was called Boy Meets Girl, and he made his own contributions to the script, making Harry funnier. Crystal “experience[d] vicariously” his best friend Reiner’s return to single life after divorcing comedienne and filmmaker Penny Marshall. In the process, he was unconsciously doing research for the role of Harry. During the screenwriting process, when Ephron wouldn’t feel like writing, she would interview people who worked for the production company. She also got bits of dialogue from these interviews. She worked on several drafts over the years while Reiner made Stand By Me (1986) and The Princess Bride (1987).

When the film started to focus too much on Harry, the classic deli scene was born. Crystal said, “we need[ed] something for Sally to talk about and Nora said, ‘Well, faking orgasm is a great one.’ Right away we said, ‘Well, the subject is good.’ and then Meg came on board and we talked with her about the nature of the idea and she said, ‘Well, why don’t I just fake one, just do one?’” Ephron suggested that the scene take place in a deli and it was Crystal who actually came up with scene’s classic punchline, “I’ll have what she’s having,” spoken by Reiner’s mother. At a test screening, Reiner remembers that all the women in the audience laughed during this scene while all the men were silent. Originally, Ephron wanted to call the film, How They Met and went through several different titles. Reiner even started a contest with the crew during principal photography – whoever came up with the title won a case of champagne.

The film’s dialogue has a ring of honesty to it, from Harry and Sally’s discussion about having good sex early on in the film, to their conversation about fake orgasms during the famous deli sequence. One memorable scene is when Harry tells Sally what all men think about after having sex: “How long do I have to lie here and hold her before I can get up and go home? Is thirty seconds enough?” Disgusted, she replies, “That’s what you’re thinking? Is that true?” Harry tells her, “Sure. All men think that. How long do you like to be hold afterwards? All night, right? See, that’s the problem. Somewhere between thirty seconds and all night is your problem.” What they talk about and how they do it really captures the way men and women talk to and about each other. Much of the dialogue is also very funny. For example, there’s the little asides, like Sally’s anal-retentive and very particular way of ordering food at restaurants, or the Pictionary scene where Harry’s best friend Jess (Bruno Kirby) ineptly guesses Sally’s drawing as “baby fishmouth” (?!). Crystal’s reaction to Kirby’s guess is absolutely priceless.

The film finds humor in painful situations, like when Harry tells Jess that he’s breaking up with his wife because she cheated on him. Jess tells him, “marriages don’t break up on account of infidelity. It’s just a symptom that something else is wrong.” Harry replies, “oh really? Well, that symptom is fucking my wife.” The film is also chock full of brilliant observations about relationships – easily the best of its kind outside of a Woody Allen film. This is something that is missing from so many romantic comedies now. Most contemporary ones feel the need for some kind of zany premise to justify their existence and feature crude humor instead of working at creating fully-realized characters and authentic sounding dialogue. This is one of the strengths of When Harry Met Sally... because many of the situations and dialogue were based on the real-life experiences of the creative team that made the film.

Because When Harry Met Sally... is so character and dialogue-driven, many forget just how beautifully shot a film it is, thanks to Barry Sonnenfeld, who got his start with the Coen brothers. The establishing shot of New York City early on shows the iconic skyline bathed in golden sunlight. There is another scene where Harry and Sally walk through Central Park and are surrounded by fallen leaves that perfectly capture the city in autumn. The sequence is saturated in warm yellow, reds and browns. These shots and the locations used in the film are captured in such loving detail by someone who is a native of the city, as Reiner was at the time.

I have a yearly ritual of watching this film between Christmas and New Year’s because part of the film is set during the holidays. There is a nice montage of New York during winter: people window shopping, sledding in the park, the streets covered in snow and Christmas decorations, and Harry and Sally getting a tree. Not to mention, the film’s climactic moment takes place on New Year’s Eve.

The casting for this film is perfect. Billy Crystal’s character is definitely cast in the neurotic Woody Allen mould with his obsession with death. For example, he tells Sally early on that when he buys a book he reads the last page first so that if he dies before finishing the book he’ll know how it ended. However, Crystal is infinitely more charming than Allen and has a certain vulnerability that is attractive. Meg Ryan is adorable as Sally, bringing a perky, irrepressible charm to the role. She compliments Harry’s pessimism. Ryan also nails Sally’s need to control every aspect of her life as typified by the way she orders food at a restaurant. She is the epitome of practicality as typified by the argument she has with Harry about who Ingrid Bergman should’ve ended up with at the conclusion of Casablanca (1942).

They are ably supported by Bruno Kirby and Carrie Fisher as their respective best friends. Not only do they play well off Crystal and Ryan, but also each other once their characters become a couple. Fisher’s scenes with Ryan where they speak honestly about their respective relationships have an honest feel to them. When Sally tells Marie that she broke up with her boyfriend, her friend laments, “you had someone to go places with. You had a date on national holidays.” They talk about dating and Fisher demonstrates fantastic comic timing, like when she goes through her Rolodex of available men and when told that one is married, folds over the corner of the index card with his contact information and puts it back – you know, just in case.

A memorable scene with Kirby includes the blind date where Harry tries to hook Jess up with Sally but he ends up getting involved with her best friend Marie. They are at dinner and Marie ends up quoting a line out of one of Jess’ restaurant reviews and his reaction is so real and genuine. I would have loved to have seen a film from the perspective of Jess and Marie showing how their courtship and marriage played out. This was one of the late-great Kirby’s most memorable roles and watching him in this film again serves as a sad reminder just how poorer cinema is with his passing.

Columbia Pictures released When Harry Met Sally... using the “platform” technique which involved opening it in a few select cities and then gradually expanding distribution over subsequent weeks. Crystal was worried that the film would flop at the box office because it was up against several summer blockbuster films, including Batman (1989) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).

When Harry Met Sally... was not only a commercial success but a hit with critics. Roger Ebert called Reiner "one of Hollywood's very best directors of comedy," and said that it was "most conventional, in terms of structure and the way it fulfills our expectations. But what makes it special, apart from the Ephron screenplay, is the chemistry between Crystal and Ryan.” The Washington Post’s Rita Kempley praised Meg Ryan as the "summer's Melanie Griffith – a honey-haired blonde who finally finds a showcase for her sheer exuberance. Neither naif nor vamp, she's a woman from a pen of a woman, not some Cinderella of a Working Girl.” USA Today gave the film three out of four stars and wrote, “Crystal is funny enough to keep Ryan from all-out stealing the film. She, though, is smashing in an eye-opening performance, another tribute to Reiner's flair with actors.” However, in her review for The New York Times, Caryn James described the film as "often funny but amazingly hollow film" that "romanticized lives of intelligent, successful, neurotic New Yorkers." James characterized it as "the sitcom version of a Woody Allen film, full of amusing lines and scenes, all infused with an uncomfortable sense of déjà vu."

When Harry Met Sally... doesn’t answer the question about men and women being friends because it is more concerned with the differences between the sexes. Harry and Sally spend most of the film trying to under one another and find themselves attracted to each other’s idiosyncrasies that one finds endearing only after you’ve gotten to know someone over a long period of time. This film is arguably the best thing that Crystal, Reiner, Ryan and Ephron have ever done. Crystal went on to make several decent if not exactly memorable films (except for City Slickers). Reiner has made one increasingly forgettable film after another (Rumor Has It, Alex and Emma, etc.). Ephron and Ryan teamed up again for Sleepless in Seattle (1993) which was a monster hit, and You’ve Got Mail (1998), but both films don’t quite resonate as well or as memorably as When Harry Met Sally...

SOURCES

“It All Started Like This.” When Harry Met Sally… Collector’s Edition DVD. 2008.

Keyser, Lucy. “It’s Love at the Box Office for Harry Met Sally…” Washington Times. July 25, 1989.

Lacey, Liam. “Pals Make Buddy Picture.” Globe and Mail. Jul 15, 1989.

Peterson, Karen. “When Boy Meets Girl.” USA Today. July 17, 1989.

Weber, Bruce. “Can Men and Women Be Friends?” The New York Times. July 9, 1989.

“When Rob Met Billy.” When Harry Met Sally… Collector’s Edition DVD. 2008.