nickenchuggets Review of Manhattan

Manhattan (1979)

"You should meet some stupid people once in a while"

[9/10 · 23 September 2021]

Manhattan is a movie that illustrates perfectly well the funny nature of Woody Allen, even if he's not trying to be. This is an odd movie for the 1970s in my opinion because it was chosen to be made in black and white, when most films had transitioned to color in the mid to late 1960s. This was obviously an artistic decision on Allen's part, because it helps make this film feel more moody. Taking place in what many consider the greatest city of the world, Manhattan starts with a comedy writer named Isaac (Woody Allen) arriving at a restaurant in Manhattan accompanied by some friends and his current love interest, Tracy (Mariel Hemingway), who is over 2 decades younger than him. Yale (Isaac's friend), is busy cheating on his wife Emily with a girl named Mary (Diane Keaton). Isaac eventually gets introduced to Mary, but she's too arrogant for his tastes. Despite this, he eventually starts to like her, but knows he's making a mistake because he is still going out with Tracy. Eventually, Isaac confesses to Tracy that he's unable to take her seriously because she's so much younger than he is and breaks off the engagement. This coincides with Yale's decision to dump Mary. Isaac seizes on the opportunity and goes out with Mary, which leads to her basically living with him. Some time later, Mary announces that she wants to reenter her relationship with Yale, and Isaac is too stunned to express any anger toward her. Instead, he goes to the school Yale teaches at and knocks on his door when he's teaching a class. A big argument ensues, in which Yale insists he found Mary before his friend did. Isaac criticizes him for using what he thinks is a 5 year old's logic and leaves. After this, Isaac lays on his couch and talks into a tape recorder, where he subconsciously starts talking about how beautiful he thinks Tracy is. He leaves his apartment to go find her, only to find out she's about to leave for the UK. Isaac apologizes for saying he didn't like her anymore, but Tracy's parents have already arranged for her to live in London. She promises to return to him after half a year. This is a strange movie. There's a lot of funny parts in it, such as when Woody says how masculine he looks holding a cigarette, but the storyline is a little too simple to qualify for classic film status. It's essentially about relationships going wrong and Woody going back to Tracy after he realizes he made a mistake by dating Mary. Diane Keaton here reminds me of her performance in Annie Hall, meaning that it's terribly funny to watch. Her and Allen have many arguments throughout the movie, as well as moments where he tries to seduce her. The fact that Woody resembles such a stereotypical nerd makes it all the more hilarious and unexpected. It seems like Diane realizes this because after all, she leaves him at the end. There's also the situation regarding the famous bridge scene that is used on the poster for this movie. Apparently, it was shot at 5 o'clock in the morning and the city's government automatically activates the lights on the bridge at a certain time. Allen wanted the lights to remain on until the scene was ready, but when they started filming, one set of them burned out, and he was forced to use that footage. Tracy is (in my view) the most important character in this movie because Woody doesn't take her seriously at first, and makes sure she understands this. There's not much she can do to change his mind other than letting herself age. In the final scene, he does take her seriously because she is going to Britain by herself, meaning she is independent now. I also thought it was strange how this black and white movie says in the credits that it uses Technicolor. That I can't understand. In any case, Manhattan is a pretty somber movie, but like I said, you'll probably feel the need to laugh every time Woody opens his mouth.