Name: Three movies that shaped Rob Reiner’s film legacy
Uploaded: 2025-12-16T05:27:59.472Z
Duration: 5 min 2 s
Description: For The National, CBC’s Eli Glasner looks back on the big moments in Rob Reiner’s filmmaking career, including the real-life Hollywood love story that prompted the director to change the ending of When Harry Met Sally.

For The National, CBC’s Eli Glasner looks back on the big moments in Rob Reiner’s filmmaking career, including the real-life Hollywood love story that prompted the director to change the ending of When Harry Met Sally.

Los Angeles

Rob Reiner's career as a director began with the 1984 mockumentary 'This is Spinal Tap,' which became a cult classic among musicians and comedy fans for its improvisational style and satirical take on rock culture. He followed this success with 'When Harry Met Sally' in 1987, a romantic comedy inspired by his own experiences, featuring memorable performances and iconic scenes.

In 1989, Reiner directed 'The Princess Bride,' a film that overcame years of production challenges to become a beloved classic. The movie is noted for its memorable characters and enduring themes, cementing Reiner's reputation as a versatile and influential filmmaker.

Three movies that shaped Rob Reiner’s film legacy

Rob Reiner's directing career really began with the 1984 mockumentary rock and roll spoof This is Spinal Tap. His first feature didn't have a screenplay or a conventional plot, just an idea from a TV sketch Reiner had made with Michael McKean and Christopher Guest goofing around as rockers. And so Spinal Tap was born with Rob Reiner himself as Marty DeBergey. After 30 days of improv, the first cut was 7 hours, but they whittled it down revealing classic moments of rock and roll lunacy. Some of Spinal Tap's biggest fans were the musicians themselves. 1987 brought When Harry Met Sally. A movie about two friends who at first, is it possible to have negative chemistry? Working with a stellar script from Nora Ephron, Reiner was inspired by his own unlucky love life. He might have been unlucky in romance, but when it came to casting he had rising star Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan in one of her first leading roles. The result? Hilarious moments of synchronized screwball comedy. Now if you're going to talk about Harry Met Sally, we gotta talk about the big O moment. Meg Ryan's orgasm scene. Except for the first take, Ryan didn't quite meet the moment, so... And that's because the woman who delivers one of the funniest lines in the film was Reiner's own mother. Oh, and one more bittersweet detail. Because of Reiner's own single life, Harry Met Sally was originally supposed to end sadly. And if that doesn't sound like a Hollywood fairy tale, let's move to 1989's The Princess Bride. But this kissing book, which became a beloved classic, was for the longest time the movie that couldn't get made. Norman Jewison tried. Robert Redford had tried. So Reiner went to ask William Goldman, the guy who wrote Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The result? A film filled with so many indelible moments from Mandy Patinkin, who had lost his own father as a young man as Inigo Montoya. To the enduring love of Wesley and Buttercup. And yet Reiner conceived of that and so much more.

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