10 Best When Harry Met Sally Moments
5. Single Again
It’s 1983, and this time Harry and Sally are with their respective friends. Sally reveals that she and her boyfriend Joe (Steven Ford) have broken-up, whilst Harry’s wife Helen (Harley Kozak) has left him for another man. What makes these two scenes memorable is not the troubles of our two main characters, but the settings they are in. Sally breaks her news over lunch with her two girlfriends Alice (Lisa Jane Persky) and Marie. After ensuring that Sally is emotionally okay, the latter of the two whips out a rolodex filled with contacts of men she knows. It is a hilarious use of props.
Meanwhile, Harry announces his unfortunate situation to his best friend Jess whilst they watch an American Football game. What can be interpreted as a serious scene of dialogue is made comedic by the joyous crowd surrounding the two friends. When Harry attempts to tell his story, he is frequently interrupted by participating in the Mexican Wave. This humorous scene culminates with Billy Crystal’s fantastic deadpan delivery of “Well, that symptom is fucking my wife.”
4. Men and Women Can’t Be Friends
On their drive to New York City, Harry makes a pass at a deeply offended Sally, which sparks the debate that the film centres around: can a man and woman ever truly be friends?
Sally argues that they absolutely can, because she has so many male friends. Cynical-as-ever, Harry argues that “the sex part always gets in the way.” It immediately establishes the central conflict within the film as to whether there is an attraction between Harry and Sally, whether they would act upon it, and what would happen if they did.
It’s a rather outdated concept now, but the question is still debated frequently within modern dating circles. With the rise of ‘pick-me’ people and ‘girl’s girls,’ these terms are spawned from the famous question that the film raised, just repackaged for the 21st century. Can men and women really be friends without some sort of ulterior motive of attraction?
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3. “I’ll have what she’s having.”
Probably the most famous scene in the entire film takes place when Harry and Sally grab lunch at Katz’s Delicatessen.
Once again, they revisit their debates of the past, which leads to a discussion about women faking orgasms.
Harry boldly claims that a woman has never faked it for him. Instead of arguing back like she would have in the past, Sally very loudly and publicly simulates an orgasm. This moment has become iconic.
The cherry on top of all of this is the line, “I’ll have what she’s having.”
