Manhattan (1979)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Woody Allen

Writers:

Woody Allen (written by) &
Marshall Brickman (written by)

Release Date:

25 April 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Woody Allen's New Comedy Hit

Plot:

A divorced New Yorker currently dating a high-schooler brings himself to look for love in the mistress of his best friend instead.

Plot Keywords:

Divorced | Writing | Manhattan | Writer | Ex Wife

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 15 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Mon. July 6

8:00 PM

TCM

Cast

Woody Allen	...	Isaac Davis
Diane Keaton	...	Mary Wilkie
Michael Murphy	...	Yale Pollack
Mariel Hemingway	...	Tracy
Meryl Streep	...	Jill Davis
Anne Byrne Hoffman	...	Emily Pollack (as Anne Byrne)
Karen Ludwig	...	Connie
Michael O'Donoghue	...	Party Guest Dennis
Victor Truro	...	Party Guest
Tisa Farrow	...	Party Guest
Helen Hanft	...	Party Guest Helen
Bella Abzug	...	Guest of Honor
Gary Weis	...	Television Director
Kenny Vance	...	Television Producer
Charles Levin	...	Television Actor #1

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | Canada:18A (Ontario) | UK:12A (re-rating) (2006) | Netherlands:AL | Brazil:12 | South Korea:18 | Argentina:18 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Ireland:18 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:15 (video rating) (1987) | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:R | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions

Trivia:

Director's Trademark (Woody Allen): [writer] Jill is a novelist.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Mark Linn-Baker appears to be credited as Mary Linn-Baker.

Quotes:

Isaac Davis: It's an interesting group of people, your friends are.
Mary Wilke: I know.
Isaac Davis: Like the cast of a Fellini movie.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Trelladiko polyteleias (1989)

Soundtrack:

Rhapsody in Blue

Neurotic in NYC

Woody Allen has been churning out mediocre films for so long now that it's easy to forget how good some of his older films were. "Manhattan" is the product of Allen's "mature" 1970s phase, the phase that also produced "Annie Hall" and "Interiors," and it's a wonderful film. It's not the plot that makes it singular -- it's typical upper-crust New York Allen, full of neurotic people in therapy cheating on one another and making mistake after mistake in their pursuit of what they think will make them happy. No, what makes "Manhattan" so effective is its style. Filmed in black and white (because, as Allen's character says in an opening voice over, New York is a city that has always and will always exist in black and white), the film is a love letter to NYC, and it suggests that the neuroses that fill its denizens are as much a part of the city's character as its architecture, culture and diversity. I would instantly be annoyed by the people that populate Allen's films if I met them in any other context. As it is, I can't imagine any Allen film (at least not one set in New York) without them.

Grade: A