|
Actors: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway, Meryl Streep, Michael Murphy
|
|
| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Manhattan |
|---|
Isaac Davis (Allen), 42, is divorced from acerbic Jill (Streep), who has moved in with another woman and is about to publish a memoir that talks about how awful Davis is. Meanwhile, he has been having an affair with a precocious but sweet 17-year-old named Tracy (Hemingway). She idealizes him but he doesn't see any future in the relationship, so he breaks up with her and urges her to go to London on a scholarship program. His ruse is to say he's in love with someone else: Mary Wilkie (Keaton), whom he starts to date out of convenience and because his best friend Yale (Murphy), who is married and has been having an extramarital affair with Mary, pushes them together. Although many familiar Woody Allen themes and characters fill this 1979 movie, it is a cut above nearly all the others -- perhaps it's his very best -- for its balance of humor and depth, its unadulterated love of New York City, its sumptuous Gershwin musical score, and the gorgeous black-and-white camerawork of the great cinematographer Gordon Willis.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
|
Woody Allen, as usual, plays a neurotic New York Jew with a sad and complicated love life. He has just divorced his second wife, and she plans to write a memoir exposing him for the schmuck he is. When the movie begins, he's dating a high school girl, but soon becomes interested in his friend Yale's girlfriend, Mary.
--Judy Berman, Resident Scholar
|
| Analysis of Manhattan |
|---|
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about
books by breaking them down into many different literary
elements, all of which are searchable (click here). |
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Comedy, primarily
Yes
Time/era of movie:
- 1960's-1970's
Kind of comedy
- Woody Allen
How much humor v. drama
- Lot of humor, but significant serious drama
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- writer
Age:
- 20's-30's
- 40's-50's
Eccentric:
Yes
- eccentric
- deluded
- emotionally unstable
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard curly
Body type
- (man) very skinny
Events of movie makes character more...
- sad
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Jewish
How sensitive is this character?
- soggy whimpering jelly muffin
Sense of humor?
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- healthy but a geeky weakling
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- blonde
Hair style
- (woman) long straight
Body type
- (woman) very skinny
- (woman) average
How much in movie?
- 40%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Female
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric:
Yes
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 20%
- 40%
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (woman) skinny
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Movie makes you feel...
- very happy
- frustrated
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- kissing
Check here if B&W
Yes
Any profanity?
- Occasional swearing
- Some foul language
If soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Broadway musical
|
| Most similar reviews by Gordonator ranking |
|---|
| Bananas
starring Woody Allen, Louise Lasser, Howard Cosell
|
| What's Up, Tiger Lily?
starring Woody Allen
|
| Annie Hall
starring Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane, Paul Simon, Shelley Duvall, Janet Margolin, Colleen Dewhurst, Christopher Walken, Jonathan Munk,
|
| Sleeper
starring Woody Allen
|
| Broadway Danny Rose
starring Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Nick Apollo Forte, Milton Berle
|
|
Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
|
