Themes: Faltering Friendships, Infidelity, Age Disparity Romance
Main Cast: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Michael Murphy, Mariel Hemingway, Meryl Streep
Release Year: 1979
Country: US
Run Time: 96 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
On the heels of Annie Hall, the Oscar-winning romantic comedy that rocketed Woody Allen to the front ranks of American filmmakers, Manhattan continued Allen's romantic obsessions in a slightly darker, more pessimistic vein. Allen stars as Isaac Davis, a TV comedy writer sick of the pap he is forced to churn out and harboring dreams of being the great American novelist. His love life is in barbed-wire territory: he is tormented by his second ex-wife Jill (Meryl Streep), a lesbian who has written a tell-all book about their marriage, and he is dating teenager Tracy (Mariel Hemingway), to whom he refuses to commit, and keeps hinting that a breakup may be imminent. Isaac's disillusioned (and married) best friend Yale (Michael Murphy) has begun an affair with the cerebral writer Mary Wilke (Diane Keaton). While Isaac makes a last minute, sink-or-swim decision to quit his job and devote all of his time to book writing, and neurotically moans about what the lack of a full time job will do to him ("My parents won't have as good of a seat in the synagogue," he moans. "They'll be far away from God... away from the action") Yale is crippled by his lack of resolve, as indicated by his inability to leave his wife Emily (Anne Byrne). Meanwhile, Isaac and Mary) begin to fall for one another. Tracy then tells Isaac the basic truth that none of his hung-up friends and past lovers fully realizes: "You have to have a little more faith in people." Manhattan is both a seriocomic dissection of perpetually dissatisfied New Yorkers and an ode to the city itself, filmed in glorious black-and-white by ace cinematographer Gordon Willis, and set to a score of rhapsodic {$George Gershwin music. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Woody Allen's valentine/ode to the city captures New York at its most iconic, framing its skyscrapers and other landmarks with lavish care and setting its pace to the rhythm of George Gershwin's melodies. In addition to being Allen's most visually striking film (thanks in large part to Gordon Willis' gorgeous black-and-white photography), Manhattan is also one of his most satisfying, considered by many his greatest achievement. A deeply funny exploration of love, guilt, and everything in-between, the film matches its humor with poignancy. Rather than provide caricatures of urban professionals who think too much for their own good, Allen gives us full-blooded individuals whose anxiety is matched only by their complexity. Even the most incidental, unseen characters, such as Mary's psychiatrist (who telephones her at 3 a.m., weeping) have a rare vibrancy and dimensions all their own. Many critics who reviewed Manhattan at the time of its release remarked that it reflected Allen's growth as a filmmaker, providing a more compassionate, clear-eyed exploration of themes that he had examined in Interiors and Annie Hall, his two previous efforts. Manhattan effectively promoted Allen to the upper echelons of the director/screenwriter realm; a triumphant synthesis of old-fashioned style and modern sensibility, it defined both a director and a genre, setting new standards for the urban comedy. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Anne Byrne - Emily; Karen Ludwig - Connie; Michael O'Donoghue - Dennis; Victor Truro - Party Guest; Tisa Farrow - Party Guest; Helen Hanft - Party Guest; Bella Abzug - Guest of Honor; Kenny Vance - Television Producer; Charles Levin - TV Actor No. 1; David Rasche - TV Actor No. 3; Damion Sheller - Isaac's Son, Willie; Wallace Shawn - Jeremiah; Frances Conroy - Shakespearean Actor; Bill Anthony - Porsche Owner; John Doumanian - Porsche Owner; Ray Serra - Pizzeria Waiter; Karen Allen - TV Actor No. 2; Mark Linn-Baker - Shakespearean Actor; Gary Weis - Television Director
Credit
Juliet Taylor - Casting, Zubin Mehta - Conductor, Michael Tilson Thomas - Conductor, Ralph Lauren - Costume Designer, Albert Wolsky - Costume Designer, Fredric B. Blankfein - First Assistant Director, Woody Allen - Director, Susan E. Morse - Editor, Robert Greenhut - Executive Producer, Jack Rollins - Executive Producer, Tom Pierson - Musical Arrangement, Fern Buchner - Makeup, Fred Schuler - Camera Operator, Mel Bourne - Production Designer, Gordon Willis - Cinematographer, Charles H. Joffe - Producer, Jack Rollins - Producer, Robert Drumheller - Set Designer, Woody Allen - Screenwriter, Marshall Brickman - Screenwriter, George Gershwin - Featured Music
