Review of Marty (1955) by Nik B — 22 Jan 2011

An overweight lonely nice-guy mama's boy looking for love. How can I ever even relate to this character much less review a movie about him?

Seriously though. Marty is a guy that everyone likes, yet at 34 remains single."Whatever women want, I ain't got.". The time spent wasted on weekends with his friends is a wasted banality. While his mother shames him into going to some dancehall to meet someone, another guy is there trying to give his dog blind date the brush off. Marty feels sorry for her. Strikes up a conversation. The hit is off.

It's enough to see the redemption possibilities in these two broken characters as they find each other. Conversing with an ease that strangers shouldn't otherwise have. That's hitting it off right? One of my favorite scenes has no dialogue at all, but is just Marty at a bus stop after dropping his date off. His mind catches up to realize that he just had a good time with a woman. His excitement overtakes him. It's easy to see why Borgnine got the Oscar.

But that's not all, let's add in some complexities, more than just the stars' insecurities. How about Marty's widowed mother, who at first wants to see some grandchildren out of him and then realize that if he gets a new bride, she'll be as unwelcome as... well... an old lady in a honeymoon house. And then there's the friends. Even if they're bored and frustrated with each other, at least they have each to count on being bored with. They all find their selfish ways into Marty's judgement as he contemplates his next moves.

It's a not big movie like "On The Waterfront" or "From Here To Eternity" so its Best Picture win is a surprise to me. Screenplay, Acting of course. But Delbert Mann also won for Best Director which seems absurd to me. It's little more than a tv show or stage play. It's just not a "Director" kind of movie. Which usually halts up the Best Picture side of things too. I'll see the rest of 1955 and let you know what I think.