215. Manhattan

Manhattan (1979)

Director: Woody Allen

Starring: Woody Allen

Diane Keaton

Mariel Hemingway

IMDb Rating: 8

My Rating: 8.5

"Chapter One. He was as tough and romantic as the city he loved. Beneath his black-rimmed glasses was the coiled sexual power of a jungle cat. I love this. New York was his town, and it always would be..."

Isaac David (Woody Allen) is a television writer living in New York City. He is currently writing a book on his love of the city. His second wife has recently left him for another woman, but he is currently dating a seventeen year old girl named Tracy (Mariel Hemingway). Isaac's married best friend Yale (Michael Murphy) is currently having an affair with a woman named Mary (Diane Keaton). Isaac and her first meeting does not go well at all. Although, later the two meet at a fundraiser and hit it off very well. They spend the entire evening together talking and strolling around New York, which eventually turns into early morning. They even agree to spend an afternoon together later one day when Yale is previously engaged.

Isaac continues his relationship with Tracy, although he is constantly telling her that she should just move on. Mary and Yale's relationship ends when he wants to make an attempt at making his marriage work. This leads to Yale's suggestion that Isaac should ask her out, which he agrees to knowing that Tracy and his relationship is strained due to the age difference. Isaac then ends things with Tracy, and begins a relationship with Mary that will affect not only himself, but all of the lives around him.

One of the things that I love about this film is the realism in writer and director Woody Allen's story. For instance, Allen's Isaac David is the classic "guy who can never be alone". Without a woman in his life, he just doesn't know how to function. So following his most recent divorce, he goes and finds a naive seventeen year old girl to date. He knows that a twenty-five year age difference at their ages will never work. This allows him to have someone in his life, with little risk of a future just in case the right woman does come along. When Mary shows up, he abandons the relationship with Tracy almost immediately. Allen has always been master at developing characters that are not only authentic, but often reflective of the people watching his films.

New York City has never been one of my favorite cities. I have been numerous times, and always feel rushed and unsafe. Although, this film's New York City is a town that I would never want to leave. The Big Apple's natural scenery allots this film some of the most beautiful backdrops in Allen's grand portfolio. Most apparent is the scene where Allen and Diane Keaton sit on a park bench with the Queensboro bridge in the foreground. It's as if their voices are narrating a thousand conversations just like theirs that have occurred at that very spot. He uses the city much like Frederico Fellini used Rome in his film Roma. There are not many things greater in film, than when a filmmaker takes you on a private tour of the city that they love.

Manhattan might be one of Woody Allen's simpler films, but it's also one of his best. He isn't trying to divulge the meaning of life on us, like I feel that he tends to do in his other films. He is simply telling the story of a guy who cannot be alone and the relationships that enable him to be this way. It's beautifully shot against some familiar and some foreign spots of New York City. The film reminded me a great deal of When Harry Met Sally... So much in fact that if Rob Reiner hasn't sited this film as an influence, he needs to start now. When my project is over, I definitely plan on going back to Manhattan, and maybe I'll give the city another try too.