My Top 10: #7 When Harry Met Sally

Whenever I'm making a top 10 list, I try to make sure that movies for or about women are represented.  It's easy to take some of the biggest movies of all time and just arrange them as your favorites.  However, most of those movies are either about very general issues, or star men.  For me, the one that always comes to the top of my list of movies I wouldn't leave the country without is When Harry Met Sally.  It's definitely dated - none of the three main living stars (Meg Ryan, Billy Crystal, Carrie Fisher) really have much of a career these days.  And the hairstyles, clothes and even some of the conversations are so rooted in 1989 that kids one day will only believe it to be a historical comedy.

However, it also defines a lot of the relationships of the 1990s and why they failed - "men and women can't be friends".  Harry (Billy Crystal) imparts these immortal words to Sally (Meg Ryan in all her 'girl next door' glory) when they're driving from Chicago to NYC after they finish college.  Harry assumes that sex always gets in the way, meaning men and women can't be friends.  They meet a few more times over the years - strongly disliking each other.  But of course eventually become friends.  And then eventually sex gets in the way.  "I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible"

Peppered throughout the film are older couples sitting and talking (and being impossibly cute) about how they met and how they've stayed together for so many years.  One guy rode the elevator "9 more floors" just so he could keep talking to his future wife.  Another is an arranged marriage between an Asian couple and "he liked how she looked very much" so he said okay.  And my favorite grew up just a few blocks from each other and they "never met" until they were far away from home.