'When Harry Met Sally' Turns 25: 7 Ways The Plot Would Be Different In 2014

Would Harry and Sally really ever have lost touch?

ByABC News
July 21, 2014, 2:48 AM
Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal appear in a scene from the 1989 movie, "When Harry Met Sally..."
Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal appear in a scene from the 1989 movie, "When Harry Met Sally..."
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.

— -- intro: "When Harry Met Sally," one of the most celebrated romantic comedies of all time, was released in theaters across America 25 years ago today. While the age-old question, "Can men and women just be friends?" remains, other elements of the movie seem a little more dated. Here are a few ways the movie, starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, might be different if it had been made in 2014.

quicklist: 1title: Harry and Sally Probably Wouldn't Have Lost Touchtext: For those who haven't seen the Rob Reiner-directed film (really, what are you waiting for?!)here's the basic gist: Harry and Sally meet for the first time at the end of college and don't like each other very much. They lose touch, only to run into one another repeatedly throughout their adult lives. Eventually, the two strike up a friendship and then (spoiler alert!) fall in love and get married. In 1989, this was a totally viable plotline. But today, what are the odds that Harry wouldn't have friended Sally on Facebook, or that Sally wouldn't have been bored one day at work and Googled Harry to see what he was up to? media: 24617442

quicklist: 2title: Jess and Marie Would Have Known About Each Other Before Dinnertext: At one point, Harry and Sally decide to set each other up with their best friends, Jess (played by Bruno Kirby) and Marie (Carrie Fisher). However, Jess and Marie are more into each other than they are into Harry and Sally. Eventually, they get married. This could still happen, but it's more likely that Jess and Marie would have been aware of each other prior to the big double blind date. At the very least, Marie, a big fan of Jess's writing, would know what he looked like, thanks to Google.

quicklist: 3title: Marie Would Have Been Caught Having An Affairtext: Prior to meeting Jess, Marie, who at one point whips out an actual physical Rolodex, was involved with a married man named Arthur. As far as we know, Arthur and Marie never get caught. Today, it seems likely that Arthur's wife would intercept a text from Marie, who was very invested in the affair, at the very least.

quicklist: 4title: The Orgasm Scene Would Be Taped and Put On YouTube text: In perhaps the most famous part of the movie, Sally tells Harry over lunch at Katz's Deli that he can't tell the difference between a real orgasm and a fake one. To prove her point, she then pretends to climax while screaming and banging on the table. The entire restaurant grinds to a halt to watch the scene, which culminates in a woman, played by Reiner's mother, telling the waiter, "I'll have what she's having." Today, someone would have recorded the performance on his or her phone, and posted it online. Sally, at that point a local reporter, would have become a YouTube sensation and the entire course of her life would have changed -- for awhile, anyway.media: 24522081

quicklist: 5title: Harry and Sally Would Try Internet Dating text: After Harry recovers from his divorce and Sally splits from her longtime boyfriend Joe, the two start spending a lot of platonic time together. While both try to be supportive of each other dating other people, it's clear that they're both secretly prone to jealousy. Today, things would probably come to a head more quickly. Maybe Harry would ask Sally to weigh in on his Tinder matches or Sally would ask Harry for help with her Match.com profile, and things would escalate.

quicklist: 6title: Joe Never Would Have Called Sallytext: Harry and Sally's relationship takes a romantic turn after Sally's ex, Joe, phones to tell her that he's getting married. Shocked and devastated, she calls Harry to come over and eventually, the two best friends find themselves in bed together. Today, Sally would probably be able to tell from Joe's Instagram account that things were serious with his paralegal, Kimberly. Because of this, it's unlikely that Joe would have given Sally a call to tell her about his engagement. Instead, Joe probably would've just changed his Facebook status to "Engaged," or posted a ring photo on Instagram with the caption, "She said yes!"

quicklist: 7title: The Final Scene Would Be Far Less Dramatictext: In the final scene of the movie, Harry realizes he's in love with Sally runs all over New York City to tell her. After breathlessly arriving at the New Year's Eve party where she is, he tells her, "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." Today Harry would have arrived at the party with plenty of time to spare, because he would have used his iPhone to call an Uber car. However, the ending would be the same. After all, some things are timeless.media: 24618146