When Harry Met Sally Essay, Research Paper

The film I chose to view for this Romantic Comedy paper was When Harry met Sally. I enjoyed this movie. The two main characters were Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally Allbright (Meg Ryan). When first introduced to these characters, Sally is driving to New York, and Harry, who is the boyfriend of Sally’s friend, is catching a ride with her.

Sally is a very structured person. To quote Harry, she is a “high maintenance” women. Harry, on the other hand, has a more laid back attitude. This causes some tension between them on the long drive to New York. This fits well into the romantic comedy genre. In a romantic comedy there is usually tension between the two charcters in the beginning. Part of this pattern is for them to soften toward one another and by the end they fall in love.

On the way to New York, Harry tells Sally some things about men she doesn’t know and is reluctant to believe. One thing he tells her is “men and women can’t be friends because sex gets in the way.” This only increases the tension between them. By the time they reach New York, Sally doesn’t appear too happy with him. She seems angry with him, but anger is sometimes used to cover other feeling. This is also a classic feeling in the genre.

A gap of several years passes before they see each other again. They see each other at the airport, but they both pretend not to know the other.

The next time they meet is a couple of years after they saw each other at the airport. This time they become friends, despite Harrry’s comment about men and women not being able to be friends.You would think Harry contradicted himself, but his statement is still pretty much true. They were friends, but the attraction was there. Neither of them wanted to admit it to the other because they were afraid the other didn’t feel the same. This also fits the genre quite well. When they met this time, they both had come from long relationships that just ended.

Harry and Sally spend the next year or so getting back into the dating scene. They spend a lot of time with one another, but do not get romantically involved. They have a great time together. They both miss the people they had there long relationships with.

Harry decides to introduce Sally to one of his friends, and Sally does the same. They all go out on a double date. As luck would have it, there friends his it off with one another and leave Harry and Sally. There friends end up getting married.

Sally’s ex-boyfriend calls her and tells her he is getting married. Sally takes this pretty hard. She calls Harry and asks him to come over. While he is comforting her, they give in to the attraction they have had for one another and sleep together. Later they wonder about the wisdom in this decision. Sally tells Harry it was a mistake, and Harry agrees. Sally is then upset by this and gets mad.They drift apart for a while. They both miss one another. They finnally get back together and tell each other how much they missed them. They realized they were meant for each other. This is also common in the romantic comedy genre. What would it be without a happy ending. The seperation at the end before they get back together is also commonly used in films.

This film fit the genre rather well. As I mentioned several times above, there were many points which made it a classic romantic comedy from start to finish. this was a very enjoyable film.