Manhattan (1979)

Manhattan (1979)

Directed & Written by: Woody Allen

Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Michael Murphy

Running Time: 1 hour, 36 minutes

Rating: R

Pre-Conceived Notions: I have three strange connections to this movie:

1. Woody Allen and I share the same middle name. He was born David Stewart Konigsberg. I feel a sort of kinship to him, because it’s not often that I meet anyone named St(u)(ew)art, let alone someone who spells it the “other,” E-W kind of way. 
2. Diane Keaton and I share the same birthday of January 5, so I feel another kinship to her, and
3. This movie was released the year I was born. 

Now that I’ve basically made it exponentially easier for my readers to steal my identity, let’s continue on to the next question, shall we? (You really don’t want my identity. I mean, you really don’t want my identity. Really.)

Why I Haven't Seen This Film: I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Woody Allen film, actually. I’ve seen clips; I’ve seen snippets, but I have yet to see an entire film. And it’s about time I honored Woody Allen, the guy I quoted in a job interview once: “Procrastination is like masturbation. It feels good while you’re doing it, but in the end you’re just screwing yourself.” And I got the job. (Note: Results not typical.)

1 hour, 36 minutes later…: Gershwin. Such an inspired choice for the soundtrack. I think he’s gotta be one of my favorite composers of all time. Such classically elegant tunes that just make you want to sing along. Bees in the Trap this ain’t. 

Throughout most of the movie it was hard for me not to look at Muriel Hemingway and not think about Soon-Yi. I get wanting to write biographical stuff, in fact I think it’s impossible not to put yourself into anything you write, but I think this was going a bit far. What a weird thing to have a 43-year-old dating a 17-year-old in a movie. Although it did make for some interesting drama. Hemingway’s character gets the opportunity to study acting in London, and Isaac, Allen’s character, encourages her to go, even though she wants to stay behind to be with him. Then, at the end, when he realizes he made a mistake dumping her, he goes to her place to find that she is on her way to London. So he pleads and begs with her not to go, and I’m sitting here, and my inner monologue is going nuts: “HE'S 43! YOU’RE 18! Go to London. GO TO LONDON!!” In my mind, she meets someone over in London and never returns to New York. That’s what I hope happens. Oh, I forgot: *Spoiler Alert!* I should do that sooner next time. Sorry about that.

Final Thoughts: 3.5 out of 6 slices of pizza. The acting was very natural, and the dialogue was laced with the occasional zinger only Woody Allen could come up with. I just found it hard to care about any of the characters. Except Muriel Hemingway.