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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
When Harry Met Sally...
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 9 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Romance
Written by: Nora Ephron
Directed by: Rob Reiner
Release Date:
Theatrical: July 12, 1989
DVD: January 9, 2001
Running Time: 96 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R
Starring Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby, Steven Ford, and Lisa Jane Persky
Will sex ruin a perfect relationship between a man and a woman? That's what Harry (Crystal) and Sally (Ryan) debate during their travels from Chicago to New York. 11 years and 2,000 miles later, they're still no closer to finding the answer. And they've never ventured past their friendship to discover the love that's right in front of them. Will these two best friends ever accept that they're meant for each other... or will they continue to deny the attraction that's existed since the first moment When Harry Met Sally? (MGM)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: A Few Good Men Alex and Emma Rumor Has It... The American President The Bucket List The Princess Bride The Story of Us This is Spinal Tap
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Los Angeles Times Sheila Benson
The summer's uncorseted, unqualified delight. [14 July 1989, Calendar, p.6-1]
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
A ravishing, romantic lark brimming over with style, intelligence and flashing wit.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Corliss
Like Harry and Sally, the movie is hardworking, spot on; it winepresses its conversation into epigrams. No surprise here.[31 July 1999, p.65]
ReelViews James Berardinelli
Together, Crystal and Ryan really click. Even though their characters are polar opposites (or perhaps because of it), their interaction has a charm and warmth that most motion picture pairings lack.
Read Full Review >The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann
[Reiner] pulls everything together adroitly to make Harry Met Sally a real refreshment. It's what they call a summer picture, which means that, if it's good as this one is-it will seem summery even in winter. [21 Aug 1989, p.26]
Empire Staff (Not Credited)
The joy comes not from the will-they-won't-they romance between the two leads, but from the sharply written humour from the pen of writer Nora Ephron.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack
The kind of little film you can get cozy with, laugh at in odd places even when nobody else is laughing - and yet people will not turn around to glower at you because they understand. [12 July 1989, Daily Datebook, p.E1]
USA Today Mike Clark
As a successful careerist who tries purging his neuroses in a coin-operated batting cage, 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. [12 July 1989, Life, p.1D]
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
What makes it special, apart from the Ephron screenplay, is the chemistry between Crystal and Ryan.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
The comedy is warm and witty and wafer-thin, as easy on the palate as a raspberry sorbet on a summer afternoon.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Dave Kehr
From his long experience in television, [Reiner] has learned how to create characters with just enough depth to hold together but not so much that they become too individualized, too stubbornly complex. [12 July 1989, Tempo, p.1]
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
What he forgot to ask Woody [Allen] for was the keen insight into middle-class folkways that marks the best Allen pictures. [28 July 1989, Arts, p.10]
Variety Staff (Not Credited)
Rob Reiner directs with deftness and sincerity, making the material seem more engaging than it is, at least until the plot machanics begin to unwind and the film starts to seem shapeless.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Staff (Non Credited)
The plot may seem anything but fresh (and the borrowings from Woody Allen certainly are stale), but director Rob Reiner has a killer instinct for setting up jokes and punchlines.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Very slickly and glibly put together, with a sharp eye for yuppie decor and accoutrements; even Woody's habitual, fanciful vision of an all-white New York is respected.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Caryn James
Like the sitcom version of a Woody Allen film, full of amusing lines and scenes, all infused with an uncomfortable sense of deja vu.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jay H. gave it a9:
One of the best romantic comedies of it's era. Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal make a surprisingly engaging film pair. The supporting cast is great. Superbly written and directed. The restaurant "orgasm" scene has to be one of the funniest scenes ever filmed.
Ashraf A. gave it a9:
Really, really good, a very wonderful movie... better than the overrated Lost in Translation
Kristin F. gave it a10:
Best Romantic Comedy I have ever seen.
Dave B. gave it a10:
To any of my friends who've heard me rave about this movie since it came out....it's my all time favourite. Not only am I a helpless romantic, but I love the humour especially. Crystal was hilarious and Ryan was beyond cute and attractive. It's the only movie in my life I went and saw at the theatre 10x, taking a new friend each time as I wanted them to enjoy it (plus, there just wasn't much else on at the theatre I wanted to go to instead). Anyways, here it is 15 years later and I own it on DVD (go figure). Enjoy it. Laugh. Bask in it....and I think it has the best closing lines (Crystal to Ryan on New Year's) in the history of movies.
[Anonymous] gave it a9:
Come on, who hasn't watched this film at least 10 times and smiled about 50 times throughout. A classic.
Pat C. gave it a 5:
Ryan must have faked Everything during the audition to land this role. It is obvious that if Harry had met Sally in real life, they would have both immediately run the other way. The show seems cute enough, but it has neither the nobility of platonic love nor the juicyness of spontaneous attraction. It's just Billy Crystal doing what he does best, playing an avoidant dysfunctional who is both entertaining and funny but in the end simply cannot be taken seriously, no matter how much brute force is leveraged into the plot. Woody Allen should have played the role, being twisted enough to represent the character. On the plus side, Ryan really is talented, and as simple sitcom the show is genuinely funny.
Dan C. gave it an 8:
Good, but a little overrated. Crystal and Ryan are very funny. One of the better romantic comedies.
