Having recently read Billy
Crystal’s memoir (Still Foolin’ ’Em) and
never having seen When Harry Met Sally, I finally watched it on cable last night. (I’m gay, what can I tell
you. Maybe if it had been called When Harry Met Barry.) I was struck by its similarity to Annie
Hall and Manhattan. Now, Annie Hall and Manhattan are two of my favorite films of all time, so it’s understandable why
even someone as talented as Rob Reiner would want to copy them, but still… So I
decided to come up with this handy chart:
When Harry Met Sally
|
Annie Hall
|
Manhattan
|
|
New York City setting
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
Gershwin songs
|
X
|
X
|
|
Nebbishy, funny Jew meets emotionally unavailable shiksa
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
Characters talk directly to camera
|
X
|
X
|
|
Scene in deli
|
X
|
X
|
|
Male romantic lead goes to apartment of female romantic
lead to comfort her when she’s crying
|
X
|
X
|
|
Male romantic lead runs to reunite with female romantic
lead at end of movie
|
X
|
X
|
|
Montage sequence at end of movie encapsulating course of
relationship
|
X
|
X
|
|
Male romantic lead winds up with female romantic lead at
end of movie
|
X
|
Significantly, When Harry Met
Sally is the only one of the three where
the male romantic lead winds up with the female romantic lead at the end of the
movie. And that’s why Annie Hall
and Manhattan were
critically-lauded films and When
Harry Met Sally was just an entertaining
movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment