Continuity mistake: When the movie starts, Harry is kissing a woman while Sally waits in the car. A couple passes behind the car, but they disappear in the close-up. (00:03:20)
Factual error: At one point, on the University of Chicago campus, the main characters drive through Cobb Gate, the ornate Gothic gate at the north end of the university quads. Cobb Gate is now and has been for many, many years, closed to motor traffic. (00:04:15)
Continuity mistake: Also on the trip, there's a conversation scene in the car, in which the camera flips back and forth from Billy to Meg as they chat/argue/flirt. Although the action/dialogue (and therefore the movement of the car) is continuous, the lock button on the driver's side door alternates between "up" and "down" with almost every camera cut. (00:05:10)
Continuity mistake: During the first car ride scene Harry is spitting the seeds out the window. One of the shots shown of the car from the outside shows the window still up after he has rolled it down. (00:05:40)
Factual error: When Harry and Sally are driving away from the University of Chicago at the start of their road trip there is a long shot of them driving on Lake Shore Drive, but they are heading south towards the city with the lake on their left. If they were leaving the city from UofC, which is in Hyde Park, they would already be driving away from the city on Lake Shore Drive. (00:05:40)
Factual error: Their drive from Chicago to New York takes them through Wilmington, CA. There is a shot of the car going past a Genstar building. This is on the Harbor Freeway in Wilmington. (00:06:35)
Visible crew/equipment: On their way to New York, the couple stops at a Deli. When they open the car's door, film crew are reflected. (00:07:20)
Continuity mistake: When Harry and Sally are sitting at the table in the diner on their way to New York, Sally's hands change position several times. From the front they will be off the table, in the next shot taken from behind her, they are both on the table. This occurs several times. (00:08:00)
Continuity mistake: In the first deli on the way to New York, Sally slides the menu over the table and places it aligned with the border, very close to her. When the angle changes, it is skewed and several inches away and she is bringing it close again. (00:08:00)
Continuity mistake: When they stop at the little diner (on the trip to New York) Sally opens her menu twice. (00:08:10)
Continuity mistake: During the first scene showing Sally Albright's peculiar way of ordering food (Rob Reiner notes in the DVD commentary that it was modelled directly on Nora Ephron's real-life behaviour), the water levels in Sally's and Harry's glasses change repeatedly between shots. (00:09:10)
Continuity mistake: In the 1977 diner scene, as Meg Ryan calculates how to split the bill, the keys on the table face opposite directions depending on the camera angle. (00:10:15)
Continuity mistake: In the second part of the diner scene during Harry and Sally's drive from Chicago to New York, the waitress in pink appears at opposite ends of the diner in close-ups behind both Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, while a staff member in white carries a bowl from right to left behind Meg Ryan at least three times. (00:10:20)
Continuity mistake: Coming out of the diner, on the trip from Chicago to New York, when Sally starts opening the door from the inside she does so with her right hand and the purse in her left hand. The next shot is from the outside and now she is pushing the door open using her left hand with the purse hanging from her left shoulder. (00:10:32)
Continuity mistake: When Harry and Sally leave the diner on their trip from Chicago to New York, a blue Volkswagon pulls into the parking space next to them. During their dialog outside their car, the blue Volkswagon can be seen behind Sally in the first two shots, but is missing in the last shot of her. (00:11:20)
Continuity mistake: When the couple exit the first diner they get in the car and start to talk. The stuff on the back seat changes between angles. (00:12:00)
Factual error: The movie begins in 1977, as stated, and initially shows Harry and Sally getting to New York. They drive by the Washington Square Arch. Through the arch, you can see in the distance the iconic silhouette of the Twin Towers, one of which sports the characteristic large antenna, which was added two years later, in 1979. (00:13:15)
Factual error: When Sally drops Harry off in front of Washington Square Park in Manhattan, the street signs are green with white lettering. However, street signs were yellow with black lettering in Manhattan during the 1970s - yellow street signs weren't replaced with the bright green ones used presently until the mid 1980s. (00:14:10)
Continuity mistake: Sally is making out with Joe (Steven Ford) at the airport when she spots Harry staring at them. She taps Joe on the arm; in the next camera angle, her left hand is on his lapel, but it was nowhere to be seen earlier. (00:15:20)
Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the airport scene, watch out for the moment when Billy Crystal first walks by. Two blonde flight attendants are carrying their bags. Focus then on the black woman in a patterned dress that gets in frame from the left side. As soon as the camera angle changes, the same woman is seated, slightly out of focus behind Meg Ryan and Steven Ford. (00:15:20)
Answer: Sally could be upset for having to drive Amanda's boyfriend, or it could be awkward because they don't know how to say goodbye. There could be a number of reasons why things appear tense between Sally and Amanda, just not explained.
That was a big question mark for me as well when I watched the movie, to the point that I had to re-watch the beginning because I was sure I had missed something; their behaviour doesn't make sense.
Sammo ★