Review of Manhattan (1979) by Sam C — 27 Apr 2009

This is only the second Woody Allen movie I've seen, the first being Annie Hall. I know that many people think there are a lot of "minor" Allen films out there, but if the "good" ones are like this and Annie Hall then I can't wait to see them. Manhattan is a dialogue-driven story about a neurotic man (like Allen himself) who enjoys the finer things of life, like art films and fine wine (like Allen himself), who also happens to be dating a seventeen year-old girl (Allen kind of did that. He just waited a year and married her instead).

I see many similarities to Annie Hall here, the main one being the girl of his dreams getting away. Although, can that really be said here in this case? His second love interest, Diane Keaton, eludes him and he eventually goes back to his young lover, whereas in Annie Hall he remains alone (if I remember correctly?). There are plenty of laughs to go around here, and some really heart-felt moments that I found to be rather soothing. As somewhat stated above, we see once again how Allen pretty much bases his main character off of himself, but can you really complain? I can't, because I love watching him saunter around the city complaining about everything.

The shot of the Manhattan Bridge is beautiful.