Manhattan

Woody Allen's "Manhattan" is truly one of those rare masterpieces where you don't feel like you're watching a movie with actors. No, it feels like you're watching life and that these actors are the real people they portray. You forget that this is only a DVD that's playing on your TV, and that's because you get so wrapped up into it all. The people are real and flawed, and yet we can't help but sympathize for them all. After it was done, I seriously had to ask myself, "Was that a movie I just watched, or did that really happen?" My only regret is that it took me so long to finally see it, but I guess late is better than never--not to mention that I might not have appreciated it like I do now if I had seen it earlier. The movie is not about plot. It doesn't feel like it's all getting to this fixed ending that it has been leading to since the first minute. "Manhattan" is focused on these complex and usually unsatisfying relationships. These people think they're happy one minute, but then you can tell that there's something they find not right about it all. Issac is a 42 year old who's in a relationship with a girl who is 17 going on 18, but she's more in love with him than he is. His best friend is having an affair with Jill, and being frustrated with the fact that she's into a married man, she starts hanging out with Isaac and the two start to fall for each other--and this ends up complicating things even further. Let's not forget the fact that Isaac's ex is writing and publishing a very unfavorable book that details some of the dissatisfactions with their relationship. In the end, everybody just wants to be happy and find that someone that will make them complete, but as "Manhattan" tells it like it is, that is rarely ever an easy task. It sounds like there's so much going on in this film, and yet everything unfolds with such ease. You never feel overwhelmed, just saddened by the fact that the film is very honest. Again, all of these people are flawed and have issues, but you can also find something redeeming about all of them. The cinematography is breathtaking giving you beautiful images of Manhattan, and having it all shot in black & white enhances the movie even more. I really admire how there are a lot of times where there are scenes that go on without a lot of edits, which brings you into the moment and makes you feel like this is all happening. I know that this review is not doing the movie justice, but it's really hard to sum up the experience in a few paragraphs. The best advice I can give you is to see it. Even if you end up not liking it, see it at least once so you can at least say that you have seen it. The movie is a complete gem when it comes to the writing and the cinematography. I'm glad that I decided to give this wonderful movie a chance, and it is something I could watch again and again. "Manhattan" is a film that I will never forget, and the very last line is something that will stay with me for days. -Michael Crane

This movie brings me back to the NYC I remember and loved.

Great !!!!

When Woody Allen won the Oscar (in abstentia) for writing and directing "Annie Hall," which also won the Oscar for Best Picture, it was assumed the stand-up comic turned auteur had reached the pinnacle of his career. Then Allen proceeded to go out and make an even better film with his next effort, "Manhattan." Filmed in glorious black & white (and widescreen) by the great cinematographer Gordon Willis, the opening sequence combining indelible images of New York City with Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" is a paean to city Allen loves and the most rhapsodical sequence in any of his films. Rather than talking about the plot per se, "Manhattan" is best explained as a convoluted series of wrecked and ruined relationships centering around Allen's character, Isaac Davis. Isaac is divorced from Jill (Meryl Streep), who is now living with Connie (Karen Ludwig), and planning to write an expose on her marriage. Isaac is having an affair with 17-year-old Tracy (Mariel Hemingway), but then he meets Mary (Diane Keaton), the mistress of his best friend Yale (Michael Murphy), who is married to Emily (Anne Byrne). Ultimately, however, this is not a film about love, but rather a film about loss, because you just know that forced to make choices, Isaac is going to make the wrong ones. Tracy and Mary are characters constructed as such polar opposites and it never dawns on Isaac to focus more on what each has than on what they lack. Of course, today this film is obviously open to reinterpretation given Allen's very public personal life and it is now assumed that the Isaac-Tracy relationship was a sign of things to come rather than a dramatic construction. If you can get away from the film's Freudian implications then you can appreciate Hemingway's Oscar nominated performance, which is not only at the heart of the film but provides its heart as well. In contrast, Keaton's Mary is rather soulless (the anti-Annie Hall if you will). When the choice is so clear the fault is clearly not in the women, but rather in the character of Isaac (or lack of character, as the case might be). The ending is certainly the most bitter sweet of any Allen film to date. Most Romantic Lines (remember, this is a Woody Allen film): (1) "I think people should mate for life, like pigeons or Catholics"; (2) "Yeah! I can tell, a lot. That's, well, a lot is my favorite number", and, of course, (3) "Why is life worth living? It's a very good question. Um...Well, There are certain things I guess that make it worthwhile. uh...Like what... okay...um...For me, uh... ooh... I would say ... what, Groucho Marx, to name one thing... uh...um... and Willie Mays... and um ... the 2nd movement of the Jupiter Symphony ... and um... Louis Armstrong, recording of Potato Head Blues ... um ... Swedish movies, naturally ... Sentimental Education by Flaubert ... uh... Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra ... um ... those incredible Apples and Pears by Cezanne... uh...the crabs at Sam Wo's... uh... Tracy's face ..." If you enjoyed "Manhattan" then check out these other films on the AFI's list of 100 Greatest Love Stories of All Time: #11 "Annie Hall," #25 "When Harry Met Sally," and #35 "Gigi." Why? The first because it is also Woody Allen, the second because it also takes place in NYC and involves making the wrong choice and then running to the woman to do something about it, and the third because it also thanks heaven for little girls...

This movie was on my must have because of Meryl Streep. I wish it were not narrated by Woody Allen as he is a narcissistic pain in the rump. The movie was shot in black and white I assume to make it more like the old romance movies, but the story line did not warrant it. The storyline is basically Woody Allen sleeping with women he could never get in real life (yes, he cradle robs) and the women actually have to pretend to like him. It is extremely creepy. Meryl does give a great performance as well as Diane Keaton. I cannot help but feel for both of them having to be that close to Woody. I do not think this was anywhere close to one of Allen's best and as much as he tried to make the movie hold up to the title, it is less about Manhattan and all about him.

Strangely thought provoking tale by Woody set in New York with all his death and dying themes!! Dark romantic comedy???

I love movies based in NYC, specially when I grew up there in the 70's. This is one of my favorite movies, top ten.

Good work from a great movie maker

C'est parfait, comme d'habitude, Merci.

Classic Woody Allen! Wonderful film