Rob Reiner Made Your Favorite Movie

Cannonball with Wesley Morris

The New York Times

News, News Commentary, Arts, Society & Culture

4.7 • 9.4K Ratings

🗓️ 18 December 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Wesley has been thinking a lot this week about what Rob Reiner gave us. Not the best movies. But our favorite ones. He wanted us to feel good. And for Wesley, no movie hit that pleasure center more than “When Harry Met Sally.” He watched it over and over as a teenager. It’s probably why he moved to New York. He wanted what they were having. This week, Wesley reflects on the impact Reiner had on his life, and shares a conversation he had on The Daily — involving a very extended appreciation of that famous diner scene. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Wesley Morris, and this is Cannonball today.
0:14.1	Waiter, there's some pepper in my paparosh. Like a lot of people, I've been thinking a lot about Rob Reiner this week.
0:30.8	And I've been thinking about him as an actor and how much fun he was to watch steal scenes in movies and on TV shows.
0:39.8	I've especially been thinking about his movies and all of the joy that they have brought me over all these years.
0:48.0	I mean, you know, everybody knows the movies, The Princess Bride, This is Spinal Tap, the American president,
0:55.1	uh,
0:55.9	misery,
0:57.9	a few good men,
0:58.6	uh,
1:01.6	those sure thing people out there.
1:03.1	I'm with you.
1:04.5	I love that movie too.
1:07.2	But I also was thinking about something I didn't even know
1:09.5	to think until this week, which is that I live in New York
1:15.1	probably because of Rob Reiner. I live in this city because I watched when Harry and Sally
1:22.2	about 4,500 times. I was about 13 the first time I saw it, and there was something about watching Billy Crystal
1:32.9	and Meg Ryan come to New York City from somewhere else and try to make a life here
1:39.4	separately and then together.
1:42.7	I guess I fell in love with these two actors,
1:45.2	who I didn't know very well before I saw this movie,
1:48.0	and I just wanted to have what they were having,
1:54.4	which is New York City.
	...

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