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Manhattan
1979
MANHATTAN is Woody Allen's glorious love letter to the city that he was born to make films about. Woody plays Isaac Davis, a twice-divorced TV writer having a relationship with 17-year old Tracy, a high school student played by Mariel Hemingway. Isaac's best friend, Yale (Michael Murphy), is having an affair with Mary (Diane .. Read more
| Starring | Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway, Meryl Streep |
|---|---|
| Director | Woody Allen |
| Genres | Comedy |
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Manhattan
MANHATTAN is Woody Allen's glorious love letter to the city that he was born to make films about. Woody plays Isaac Davis, a twice-divorced TV writer having a relationship with 17-year old Tracy, a high school student played by Mariel Hemingway. Isaac's best friend, Yale (Michael Murphy), is having an affair with Mary (Diane Keaton), a woman whose every word about the arts infuriates Isaac. Meanwhile, Isaac's ex-wife Jill (Meryl Streep) is writing a book that will expose all of his idiosyncrasies and neuroses. But when Yale breaks it off with Mary, Isaac and Mary start an affair that alters the relationships of all the major characters. Gordon Willis's stunning black-and-white photography and the soaring music of George Gershwin help make Woody Allen's brilliant vision of the city he loves one of the best films of the last quarter of the 20th century. Allen delicately balances the line between comedy and satire, drama and pathos. MANHATTAN is a gorgeous, vibrant comedy that explores the changing state of relationships in the New York of the late 1970s, capturing that moment in time with charm, intelligence, and lots of laughs.
| Starring | Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway, Meryl Streep, Michael Murphy, Anne Byrne, Michael O'Donoghue, Karen Ludwig |
|---|---|
| Director | Woody Allen |
| Studio | MGM ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 32 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Comedy |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Dubbed | French, German, Italian, Spanish |
| Hearing-impaired | English, German |
| Released | DVD: 10 Jul 2000 Production year: 1979 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (5)
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Setting the tone and style for many of his later movies, this early masterpiece from Woody Allen celebrates, as ever, his beloved New York. Allen stars as Isaac, a neurotic TV writer who's taken up with 17-year-old Mariel Hemingway, but who's being diverted by fast-talking Diane Keaton and — more dangerously — by the book about him written by his lesbian ex-wife Meryl Streep. Allen and his fellow New Yorkers swan in and out of the cultural byways of the Big Apple, indulging in psychiatric therapy that's never quite the cure-all they crave. The characters could have become over-articulate bores, but the wonder of Allen is that he manages to invest them with the saving grace of humanity. This is a wonderful film, with a George Gershwin score that adds just the right amount of poignancy.
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"...Woody Allen never seems to tire of topping himself....An irresistible yarn of personal relationships that draws skillfully on the best comic moments of ANNIE HALL and the raw emotions he portrayed in his last picture INTERIORS..."
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Most helpful member's review
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7 out of 8 people found this review helpful
Very Witty
Very witty Woody Allen film. It is both funny and quite sad - bitter-sweet, I suppose, but really enjoyable. A lot of the film is recorded on the streets of NY, so small bits of the soundtrack are sometimes difficult to understand all of the dialogue because of the background noise, but it is well worth replaying because the screenplay is really first rate. I particularly liked the performances of Woody Allen and Diane Keaton. Must be one of their best performances.
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Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Well shot and sporadically amusing
Manhattan, surprisingly, is set in Manhattan, and, as usual, deals with the loves of Woody Allen, including his love of the city, itself.
Beautifully shot in black and white, this film is not as funny as it thinks it is, and not as funny as Annie Hall. I still can't understand why Woody Allen continued to get extraordinary praise for his films in the late seventies and eighties when they tend to deal with the same subject matter and include a few witty jokes.
Anyway, this focuses on Allen's relationships with Diane Keaton and a younger girl of 17. He finds himself attracted to Keaton, despite her strong beliefs and his faux-sophistication.
Credit to the performances and the music, as well as the photography. -
News and features
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A group of New York students got more than they bargained for after taking juicy snaps of Jude Law exercising on his Manhattan apartment balcony - when the actor pelted them with oranges. New York University freshmans Priya Vij and Erica Rose were thrilled to discover the Alfie star lived next to their dorm in the city's Washington Square. After passing on the information to her dormmates, Vij regularly had pals in her room in the hope of getting a glimpse of the Hollywood hunk. She tells the... Read more
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