Why is the ending of ‘When Harry Met Sally’ is so perfect?
I’ve long argued the case that When Harry Met Sally is the perfect romantic comedy, although it’s not an argument that requires much persuasion. Even those who aren’t typically the rom-com type can surely appreciate Rob Reiner’s Nora Ephron-penned classic, which has one of the most special endings the romantic genre has ever given us.
Released in 1989, the film begins with Harry and Sally meeting for the first time. They’re leaving college in a car facilitated by a mutual friend, resulting in the pair having to share the long journey with only each other for company. What might sound like an adorable meet-cute is immediately undercut by the fact that they continuously clash, and it doesn’t take long for them to establish a dislike for each other.
But as the story unfolds, they keep coming back to each other’s lives one way or another, whether that be through bumping into each other at the airport or in a bookshop. It takes a while for them to become friends, and they enjoy other relationships, but a romantic connection between them never fully disappears. There’s always a closeness, even when neither of them is saying anything.
The performances from Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan are fantastic, with Harry Burns as the slightly irritating but ultimately charming neurotic, while Sally Albright is much more optimistic and refuses to let Harry’s initial cynicism get to her. The classic ‘will-they-won’t-they?’ trope is utilised to perfection here, with Reiner checking back in on the pair every so often until their friendship ultimately becomes too deep to be severed, even after they kiss and eventually have sex.
But following the first time they have sex, it seems like the pair are going to call their friendship quits, with Sally worrying that by sleeping together, they’ve destroyed their relationship. When two friends have sex, can they ever just go back to being friends?
This leads us to the climactic moment of the movie, wherein Sally finds herself all alone at a New Year’s Eve party. Sally and Harry have already successfully set up their best friends, Jess and Marie, who have since gotten married, so Sally feels an extra pang of loneliness as she witnesses them together. All she wants, really, is Harry.
But he’s at home alone, watching TV. That’s until he decides to go for a walk, and as he takes the time to reflect on his friendship with Sally, he realises that there’s only one thing to do: declare his love for her before it’s too late. As the nostalgic sound of ‘It Had to Be You’ plays over the scene, Harry begins to run, while scenes of Sally telling Jess and Marie that she’s going to leave the party so she doesn’t have to deal with the pain of missing out on kissing anyone at midnight are cut in between.
It’s a pretty tense moment for a rom-com, leaving audiences sitting on the edge of their seats, willing Harry to run to Sally fast enough, for him to make it to her in time for a kiss as the clock strikes 12. But it’s this build-up of tension, paired with the wistful, romantic soundtrack, that makes the pay-off so much more rewarding.
With tears in her eyes, Sally is close to leaving the building when she spots Harry in the crowd, and it’s like her whole world stops for a second. What’s great about this moment is how they don’t suddenly run to each other and kiss, nor do they become sanitised versions of their characters to fit the romantic moment. Rather, Harry begins blabbering as usual, while Sally stands her ground, and even though he is delivering his grand romantic speech to her, she’s having none of it.
Then Harry delivers a line that remains one of the most romantic lines ever uttered in cinema history, one that naturally causes Sally to soften: “When you realise you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible”. Ryan expresses so much with just her eyes, you can see Sally reckoning with her own feelings; of course, she loves him, too.
There’s such tenderness to this next moment, in which she says she hates him, because it immediately becomes clear that she means the opposite (obviously), and as she repeats “I hate you” in a vulnerable whisper, you know that this is a moment they will never come back from. They’re finally ready to acknowledge their love. A kiss is shared, and then we cut to the pair being interviewed about their relationship months later, just like the other couples who are interspersed within the narrative.
The New Year’s Eve scene is simply perfect because it subverts our expectations while ultimately rewarding us. We get a happy ending, but we don’t get the kiss at midnight (the clock strikes while Sally is almost shouting at Harry), and we don’t get a perfect confession from both sides straight away.
Instead, Harry softens and delivers the film’s best lines, while Sally finally opens herself up to be loved. It’s a magical scene, and one that makes When Harry Met Sally, at least in my eyes, the best romantic comedy ever made.
