Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Hooked On A Feeling (MQW).

Normally, Alex J. Cavanaugh hosts Movie Quote Wednesday today.  In fact, the designated theme for this week: Romantic Comedy.  This was supposed to go off last week (I think it was intended to coincide with V-Day), but Alex was so log-jammed that it didn't happen.  Ironically, the poor guy had so many things on his plate this week that Movie Quote Wednesday came and went and totally missed his blog.  However, I have been putting in BRAIN TIME trying to come up with something for this event, so I am still playing.

"All I'm saying is that somewhere out there is the man you are supposed to marry. And if you don't get him first, somebody else will, and you'll have to spend the rest of your life knowing that somebody else is married to your husband."            ~Marie, When Harry Met Sally 

This Rob Reiner movie is funny, but it also taps into every single person's greatest fear: staying single forever.  In fact, this line is coming directly from that place of fear.  Isn't that every person's nightmare?  Meeting someone, thinking he might be the one, and then having him marry someone else because you didn't act quickly enough?  Or be good enough, right enough, or just enough?  Whatever that is?  

I honestly had a difficult time choosing a Best Line from this movie.  The writers Spread the Dialogue Love around.  Oftentimes, the writers fall in love with one character and give that character all the Best Lines.  Not in this film.  Everyone got The Love.  Here's another Beauty:

"Right now everything is great, everyone is happy, everyone is in love and that is wonderful. But you gotta know that sooner or later you're gonna be screaming at each other about who's gonna get this dish. This eight dollar dish will cost you a thousand dollars in phone calls to the legal firm of That's Mine, This Is Yours."                                   ~Harry, When Harry Met Sally 

Billy Crystal is fabulous in this, if for no other reason than he is an unlikely leading man in a Romantic Comedy.  He is not particularly good looking.  But, he is funny as all get out.  He is horribly un-PC in this movie.  And he has just stated out loud THE PROBLEM in most relationships that no one wants to say out loud.  People get married because they are hooked on a feeling, and when the feeling goes away, they end up in Divorce Court.  So, you better label your stuff and be prepared to spend thousands over an eight dollar dish.  Why?  Because you RUSHED INTO MARRIAGE YOU IDIOTS.  But, you're my friends so I can't call you an idiot, per se, so I am telling you to label your books, so you will know how to divvy them up later...


One of the best things about this movie is that these two characters, Harry and Sally, actually become good friends in this movie.  Ironically, they do this in spite of the fact that Harry states at the beginning of the movie that "men and women can't be friends."  It turns out that he is wrong about that.  They continue to meet up over the years, and after Harry goes through a very painful divorce and Sally is dumped by her long-time boyfriend, they do, in fact, become friends.  At that point, they have no interest in a relationship.  They just want to put themselves back together, and they discover that they genuinely like one another.  Of course, the best "relationships" are grounded in friendship, as they will ultimately discover.  But, then anyone who sees the movie knows this... and anyone who hasn't should know it is coming.  It is a Romantic Comedy.

I think this is one of the Best Dialogues of the Movie:

Harry Burns: There are two kinds of women: high maintenance and low maintenance.   
Sally Albright: Which one am I?
Harry Burns: You're the worst kind; you're high maintenance but you think you're low maintenance.  
Sally Albright: I don't see that.  
Harry Burns: You don't see that? Waiter, I'll begin with a house salad, but I don't want the regular dressing. I'll have the balsamic vinegar and oil, but on the side. And then the salmon with the mustard sauce, but I want the mustard sauce on the side. "On the side" is a very big thing for you. 
Sally Albright: Well, I just want it the way I want it.  
Harry Burns: I know; high maintenance.

I think that this conversation might have been the invention of the High Maintenance-Low Maintenance "thing."  In fact, it is terminology that I don't hear much anymore.  Frankly, I don't think that there is anything wrong with being High Maintenance.  Sally is right: she wants it the way she wants it.  However, Harry is right, too.  She is the worst kind for not recognizing that she is High Maintenance.  The great thing is that he feels perfectly free to call her out on it.  That is being a good friend.

Another sign that they are moving into the best friend zone, which is the perfect place to launch a relationship from if both people are so inclined... You feel free to show true, genuine emotion in front of that person.  In other words, you can "ugly cry" in front of them.   Let's take a look:







"Yeah, but he was too old to pick them up."  Hahahahaha.  This scene reminds me of why I like this movie so much.  Loving someone is about more than falling in love with them.  It is actually loving them.  Those are two very different things.  Good to know.

image found at www.weheartit.com

19 comments:

  1. That movie has so many great lines!
    You're right - I completely missed Wednesday Quote Day with so much else going on. Epic Ninja fail...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It really does... so hard to choose just one, so I didn't:) And we all have Epic Fails sometimes...

      Delete
  2. A true friend will, indeed, be honest with you; a friend is not a "yes"-man. And honesty is integral to a healthy romantic relationship, too. So if you don't have that during the building stage, you're never gonna have it ... and then you'll wish you'd labelled your books ... ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah Mary, you have stated this so wisely. A true friend does feel free to call you out on all of your stuff. Of course, they do it in a nice way, but being a "yes"-man doesn't help at all, does it? I think it is so much easier to be honest in a friendship, maybe because it feels like there is less to lose? Of course, once you get older you understand that honesty is the foundation to a healthy relationship - any relationship - and that if you don't have it, it is already lost.... and you'll be labeling your books! Or just wishing you had...

      Interesting thoughts on friendships and relationships!!!

      Delete
  3. "I'll have what she's having..."
    Sorry, just had to add that!
    One of the best romantic comedies EVER!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Excellent dialogue and MASTER of the one-liner. Indeed, we will *all* have an order of that:)

      Delete
  4. Everyone's always talking about this movie, and the scene when Sally's faking it in the restaurant is A Classic, so I'm kind of surprised I haven't seen it yet. It's just that, you know, I'm weird about certain actors and Billy Crystal is one of them. Not to mention Meg Ryan :) I guess I wouldn't mind if they made a remake with other actors hahaha

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think that sometimes you have to let go of preconceptions... and just watch it:)

      Delete
  5. I know I am not supposed to 'fess up to liking a chick flick so much, but that movie is a classic and I own it.

    And I just used the "high maintenance but think you're low maintenance" line last week!

    Larry

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Love that line about high maintenance vs. low maintenance. Go you!

      Delete
  6. That's one of my favorite movies! I can recite most of it verbatim I know, I know, I'm sick!!! lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I always crack myself up when I use movie dialogue...

      Delete
  7. Yeah, that's a really good movie; I've seen it a number of times.

    One of my favorite scenes is where Harry and his best buddy are having a serious discussion about relationships and whatever, while mindlessly doing 'The Wave' at a baseball stadium. Classic stuffs.

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This movie was great on so many levels. That was just another one of them. People do have serious conversations doing absolutely Ridiculous things!!!

      Delete
  8. I think Billy C. looks handsome in the vid. I just recently saw him in Parental Guidance and he's old now but still a funny hoot. Of course Bette M. is one funny lady.

    Harry and Sally did have the funny lines but it's been a long time since I saw it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am not saying Billy Crystal is BAD looking Manzie. He is just not "glamorous" like so many Leading Men are now. In order to land a role in Romantic Comedy these days you have to be Sexy or Hot. Well, Billy Crystal is many things but he isn't either one of those. He is hilarious, down-to-earth, believable as a great guy, basically your average guy. And Meg Ryan is cute but she isn't Super Sexy either IMHO. And that is why I like it:) It feels more real than so many churned out pieces of Hollywood trash that you see now... It addresses friendship, marriage, divorce, can man and women be friends?, getting over failed relationships, rebuilding of the self, and tons of stuff in between!

      Delete
  9. This movie IS great, in so many ways. I remember loving this kind of stuff. And I must admit that the longer I am married the less I can conjure up the dramatic reactions and feelings that I once owned. In some ways I suppose I miss it- that high level of reaching down into myself and KNOWING exactly how I was feeling. Now, get to me with the possibility of something bad happening to my husband and I'll promptly head back to my ability to completely lose it! I guess I just have lost a bit of touch with this stuff that I do love and I should revisit it every now and then. :)
    BTW, we did everything wrong: met and married pretty quickly and did so at a pretty young age- fresh out of college. Still, we are the types that would end up arguing about who should get what by saying "No, you should get that." "No, no, you." "But you couldn't possibly live without it." "Yes, I could. YOU must have it." It's actually pretty funny to think about...
    And maybe doing it wrong worked for us, because I'm pretty darn decisive and my husband is amazingly impulsive at times, especially for such a rational guy.
    Yes, this post reminds me most about how much I love how unique each relationship is and what makes it all work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What I love is how this post really get your mental wheels spinning:)

      Delete
  10. I know pretty much all the dialogue by heart... and I'm not ashamed to say so either. It's a great movie. You're right... everyone gets great lines. Some get great moans, too ;)

    ReplyDelete

You can now add YouTube videos in your comments by copy/pasting the link. AND/OR you can insert an image by surrounding the code with this: [im]code[/im]. In the case of images, make sure that your code is short and simple ending with something like .jpg. If you want to use a pic from someplace like Google Images, click on the image, then click on View Image. That is the code you want!

Dazzle Me!