Review of Marty (1955) by Chris W — 18 Feb 2012

Marty Pilletti is a shy and lonely 34 year-old Butcher from the Bronx who still lives at home with his mother, and has spent his entire life being awkward and uncomfortable around women.

His luck begins to change when he happens to meet a school teacher named Clara Snyder who immediately grabs his attention. She's just as shy, lonely, and unlucky with the opposite gender, and just as smitten with him as he is with her.

Despite a newfound feeling of happiness, Marty begins to second guess his feelings, espeically since it seems that none of his friends or family can seem to have anything nice to say about her. Ultimately though, Marty fidns the courage to stick to his conventions, knowing that he's really got nothing to lose.

Written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Delbert Mann, this is an utterly charming and heartwarming little film. It's simple, straight forward, and there's nothing at all wrong with that. You could draw comparisons to a newer film like The 40 Year-Old Virgin, and that's okay, but this is a far classier affair, with far subtler humor, to boot.

I really enjoyed this, but at the same time felt a little disappointed. Going into it, I was under the impression that I was supposed to be blown away by it, mostly because it won top honors at both the Oscars and Cannes, but, even though the film ended up not being as remarkable at anticipated, it's still a pretty solid piece of work.

Ernest Borgnine won an Oscar for his work here, and it truly is one of his standout roles, which is really saying something given his long, and varied career filled with some tremendous performances. Betsy Blair is also quite nice as Clara, but what really helps sell this film besides hte wonderful leads are the nice supporting turns from the colorful supporting cast that make up Marty's family and friends.

All in all, this is a wonderful film and, while it's not quite a masterpiece, it's nevertheless a really heartfelt movie with a lot to offer.