Oldies Movie Review - Manhattan

Director: Woody Allen
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 96 minutes
Year: 1979
Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Meryl Streep, Mariel Hemingway, Michael Murphy, Anne Byrne Hoffman   
 
I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2023 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 43: A MOVIE WITH A RATING HIGHER THAN 8 ON IMDB
 
Description: The life of a divorced television writer (Woody Allen) dating a teenage girl (Mariel Hemingway) is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend’s mistress (Diane Keaton)

Review: Some of Woody Allen’s work I really love: “Scoop” was fun, “Annie Hall” is one of his best and “Midnight in Paris” is my absolute favorite. “Manhattan” is probably considered his best, but I don’t really get that.

Most of Allen’s movies are just a bunch of people talking about everyday life. And the city it’s set in it often a very important element of the story. In most of his early work that’s New York, here focusing on Manhattan. And although I always enjoy the funny dialogue Allen writes, there are some elements in this movie that I found troubling.

People are actually okay with a 43-year-old man dating a 17-year-old girl. One character even says 17 isn’t to young. And this girl, Tracy, is totally mesmerized by this man, Woody Allen’s Isaac. Which I don’t understand either, because Isaac is not that special (and he has his fair share of relationships with pretty women). With that, we are supposed to be rooting for characters committing adultery. Isaac’s friend is cheating on his wife and Isaac cheats on Tracy with that same woman. I know it’s a fictional story, but with movies like this you are supposed to sympathize with the main character. I simply couldn’t.

Because I loved the dialogue and the setting, and the way Allen shows his love for New York, I still think it’s an okay film. But there were too many red flags for me.

Rating: 3/ 5