By Fiorela Gonzales 

“I’ll have what she’s having.” A quote so iconic that it landed itself as #33 on AFI’s list of “100 Years… 100 Movie Quotes.” An achievement only bested by the movie itself which has been listed as #23 on AFI’s list of “100  Years… 100 Laughs.” When Harry Met Sally… came out in 1989 and was immediately regarded as one of the best romantic comedies of its time. The movie has had such a lasting impact that every core of its being has permeated into all romantic comedies that followed it. It has become the blueprint, and it was thanks to the creative minds behind it: screenwriter Nora Ephron and director Rob Reiner.

When Harry Met Sally… spends the entire movie following the titular characters, Harry and Sally (played by Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan), as they meet and don’t hit it off, meet again and still don’t like each other, and meet one last time and finally become friends. The story truly unfolds through the friendship in the last arc of the movie that leads the two friends to sleep together and finally realize that they are in love. The movie is littered with iconic moments and quotes, but none more so than the final heartbeat of the movie where Harry realizes he loves Sally and runs through New York City on New Year’s Eve to show up to the party and tell Sally how she feels for her to rebuke him with “That is just like you Harry. You say things like that, and you make it impossible for me to hate you. And I hate you, Harry. I really hate you.” And it’s the hold the camera has on Harry’s face as she tells him she hates him that you can tell how much she loves him.  

Rob Reiner has talked in the past about how the movie was supposed to end with the two realizing they could really be just friends, but it was around this time that he met his wife, photographer and producer Michele Singer, that made him change the ending, so the leads end up together. We owe so much to their love as it has forever impacted millions of people with an ending that still makes me cry happy tears every time I watch it. Rob Reiner brought so much heart and comedy to everything he made, which is why it’s no surprise that When Harry Met Sally… has become the rom-com blueprint.

The two leads of the movie have so much chemistry that the movie balances on them and their conversations. We spend the hour and half listening to these two talk and interact and falling in love with each other. While these two don’t realize it, everyone else has, including the audience. What I love about Harry’s realization that he does, in fact, love Sally, is that it’s not narrated. It’s not explained how or when it happens. It happens subtly as he’s walking alone on New Year’s Eve, assuring himself that being alone is really what he wants. And as he stands under the Washington Square Arch where he and Sally first parted ways 12 years earlier, with Frank Sinatra’s “It Had to Be You” playing in the background, he suddenly starts running towards Sally. Rob Reiner respected his audience and knew that he didn’t need to spoon feed realizations to them. It’s never spoken out loud, but it couldn’t be clearer.

When Harry Met Sally… is all about love, friends, second (and third) chances, and cozy sweaters. We are all so lucky to have had Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer in our world to help bring to life this movie and these characters. Rob Reiner brought magic to us with his warmth and his comedy, and we’re all so lucky to have had what he was having while we could.