I’ve never actually gotten around to seeing any of Woody Allen’s film before this one. This is mainly out of a feeling of disinterest, but partially because none of them have been on Netflix instant before now. The way I hear it, Manhattan is actually a good place to start from in Allen’s filmography and is one of his best. Or so I am to believe from the extremely high ranking on Rotten Tomatoes. RT rarely ever judges things improperly, but you never know how these films might turn out, especially those that have gathered the cobwebs of time.
For those who have no idea who Woody Allen is, a brief history: Allen is known for playing extremely neurotic characters, he voiced the lead voice actor in Antz, and he married his adopted daughter. This is quite the list of achievements. In Manhattan, Allen plays a forty-two year old neurotic TV writer being torn between two different romantic relationships: one with his best friend’s mistress and the other with a seventeen-year-old girl. And that’s it. This is a surprisingly sparse romance with very little going on and very little drama. The lack of constant problem after problem in the film is polar opposite from modern-day romances where you can’t go ten minutes without somebody spilling Grandma’s ashes or getting into a dance competition. This isn’t to say these melodramatic events can be bad things, but I found it refreshing to see a movie where everybody is cool about everything. Seriously, there are only two or three major emotional confrontations in the film and they’re all relatively mellow.
Maybe this is a comment on the mellow, free-spirited, New York attitude, but I believe it has more to do with Woody Allen’s character. If nothing else, Manhattan is a fascinating character study into the mind of the main character Isaac Davis. He’s neurotic (duh), self-destructive, smart, calm, self-obsessed, caring, confident, and quite funny. He’s one of the most human characters I’ve ever seen. Granted a great deal of his persona is probably based on Allen himself, but he’s a very honest representation. Isaac Davis is far from perfect and often makes some of the most selfish and asinine choices I’ve ever seen. The ending is an example of this as it left me coughing up blood from sheer frustration after watching one of the most despicable acts of narcissism I’ve ever seen on film. And it was brilliant. It was true to who Isaac is and a testament to the faulty nature of all humankind.
The romantic aspect of the film falls a little flat. Like I said before, very little drama actually happens. Everybody goes with flow of what is happening and confrontations rarely occur. In this way, Manhattan does remain true to real life. Not all relationships end, or even begin, with a bang. Sometimes they just limp out of existence or start up from nowhere in particular. It wouldn’t hurt to have someone throw a lamp every once in a while though. And they would definitely be entitled to doing so. I mean, there are some actions that would be heart-breaking to people. Friendships are broken, marriages destroyed, innocence lost, egos shattered; yet everybody takes things in stride. I suppose that is what Allen was going for and it does work. If your attitude is more aligned with the usual movie-going expectations (lamp throwing, crazy sex romps, attacks from tiny dogs, etc.) then you will have to adjust accordingly.
