The film When Harry Met Sally was released on July 14th of 1989 in what would be considered a limited release and then was released to a wide range audience on July 21st. According to Box Office Mojo the film made 1,094,453 on its limited release weekend and 8,846,522 on its wide release weekend. So the film did pretty well especially considering that the film’s budget was around 16 million dollars. Box Office Mojo also states that Harry Met Sally made over 92 million dollars over its total lifetime which is quite a bit of profit.
The film is considered a romantic comedy and films of this genre often tend to be a safe bet as they eventually make a profit. When Harry Met Sally, goes a little beyond that as the film has reached critical acclaim in many ways. IMDb points out that the film was nominated for several Golden Globes and an Oscar, for best writing in a screen play, as well the film won a BAFTA Film Award, an American Comedy Award, and an ASCAP Award; both lead roles in the film, Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, won an American Comedy Award for their performance. Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars and admires Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan’s ability to show warmth in their characters as well as their humorous back and forth. His only real negative is that sometimes the characters do not seem real because of overbearing exaggerated comedy bits that he believes would not happen in real life; He points out in particular the notorious Meg Ryan fake orgasm scene.
Below is a link to a Siskel and Ebert analysis of the film where they manage to agree and disagree all at the same time as they so often do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmRZHyL1YBA
Siskel says the film reminds him of Annie Hall (1977) in several ways but Rob Reiner’s When Harry Met Sally does not quite reach the standard of Woody Allen’s film. Of course, it might be a little unfair to compare the two as Annie Hall is a classic that cleaned up at the Oscars. Another way that critics choose to analyze the film is by comparing this Rob Reiner film with past Rob Reiner films. Caryn James of the New York Times exclaims that “Mr. Reiner's best, most inventive films - ''The Sure Thing'' and ''This Is Spinal Tap'' - have precisely the sly edge and sardonic tone that ''Harry Met Sally'' needs”. She goes on to say that his other films are more emotional and that this film seems to ride the coattails of Woody Allen’s film in that Rob Reiner seems to be making someone else’s film and not his own. She does not necessarily say that this is bad, calling the film, “a perfectly pleasant Woody Allen wannabe”. It is interesting to see that some critics like the similarities between Annie Hall and When Harry Met Sally and others consider the two films’ relationship more of a problem than a positive. As well Siskel enjoys the over the top comedic parts of the film while Ebert believes that they take away from both the film and the film’s characters.
As for the audience reception of the film, When Harry Met Sally currently has an 89 percent on rotten tomatoes as far as critics go and also an 89 percent when it comes to the audience score. The film is considered to be a classic, especially when it comes to the romantic comedy genre. As When Harry Met Sally was compared to Annie Hall, future romantic comedies will be compared to When Harry Met Sally. This film was and will continue to be a staple in the romantic comedy genre.
Work Cited
"Awards." IMDb. IMDb.com, 2016. Web. 27 Feb. 2016. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098635/awards>.
Ebert, Roger. "When Harry Met Sally... Movie Review (1989) | Roger Ebert." All Content. Ebert Digital LLC, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2016. <http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/when-harry-met-sally---1989>.
James, Caryn. "When Harry Met Sally (1989)." Www.nytimes.com. The New York Times Company, 12 July 1989. Web. 27 Feb. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=950DEFDB1630F931A25754C0A96F948260>.
"SISKEL & EBERT MOVIE REVIEW -- "WHEN HARRY MET SALLY" (1989)." YouTube. YouTube, 4 Sept. 2013. Web. 27 Feb. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmRZHyL1YBA>.
"When Harry Met Sally... (1989) - Box Office Mojo." When Harry Met Sally... (1989) - Box Office Mojo. IMDB, 27 Feb. 2016. Web. 27 Feb. 2016. <http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=whenharrymetsally.htm>.
"When Harry Met Sally." Www.rottentomatoes.com. Flixster Inc, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2016. <http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/when_harry_met_sally/>.
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