Review of Marty (1955) by Ben L — 07 Oct 2014

Marty (the movie) is a lot like Marty (the titular character.) This movie is very simple, has old-fashioned values, and has a whole lot of heart. It is a straightforward tale of a man who is reaching that age where half the people in his life start to question him about when he's going to find a nice girl and get married. However, Marty is saddled with one little problem, no woman seems interested because he's just too ugly. I'm not making that judgement about Ernest Borgnine myself, instead the movie makes it abundantly clear that in this world he is 100% unattractive. The interesting twist this movie makes comes when Marty meets a woman who is equally ugly, played by Betsy Blair. Again, not a judgement I've made, the movie is from a time when a guy could straight up call a girl "a dog" to her face without getting slapped apparently. Anyways, what makes this twist interesting is that suddenly all the people in Marty's life, who had been encouraging him to find a woman, suddenly start to realize what they stand to lose if he does.

The movie definitely plays as a tale from a particular time. So many things feel absolutely unreal simply because people couldn't act in that way, or say those kinds of things nowadays. I did find it kind of touching, not quite to the point of tears, but I empathized with Marty's plight. How he feels left out and unappealing is something most people can identify with at some point in their lives. I even laughed out loud a few times, particularly from the lines between Marty's mother and his aunt. There isn't much to this movie, it's a simple story. Many people might be surprised after watching it that this was an Oscar-winning Best Picture, because the plot is so basic. You just have to relax and appreciate the warmth of Marty, it is a feel-good kind of movie. The cinematography is also quite good for a black-and-white film. They do a lot with shadows and slow zooms that help you connect with the emotions of certain scenes. It's not one of the greatest films of all time, you'll rarely find it on any list of "classics" but it delivered what I expected.