IMDb > Manhattan (1979)
Manhattan
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Manhattan (1979) More at IMDbPro »

Videos (see all 8)
Manhattan (1979) -- ZuGuide.com - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
MOVIEmeter: ?

Down 6% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Woody Allen

Writers:

Woody Allen (written by) and
Marshall Brickman (written by)

Contact:

View company contact information for Manhattan on IMDbPro.

Release Date:

25 April 1979 (USA) more

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance more

Tagline:

Woody Allen's New Comedy Hit

Plot:

A divorced New Yorker currently dating a high-schooler brings himself to look for love in the mistress of his best friend instead. full summary | full synopsis

Plot Keywords:

more

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 15 nominations more

NewsDesk:
(24 articles)

Woody Allen to Open Tribeca Film Festival
 (From Get The Big Picture. 3 March 2009, 4:49 PM, PST)

Joaquin Phoenix Makes Awkward Appearance on Letterman
 (From PEOPLE.com. 12 February 2009, 8:40 AM, PST)

User Comments:

Rhapsody in NYC more (169 total)


Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Woody Allen ... Isaac

Diane Keaton ... Mary

Michael Murphy ... Yale

Mariel Hemingway ... Tracy

Meryl Streep ... Jill
Anne Byrne Hoffman ... Emily (as Anne Byrne)

Karen Ludwig ... Connie
Michael O'Donoghue ... Dennis
Victor Truro ... Party Guest
Tisa Farrow ... Party Guest
Helen Hanft ... Party Guest
Bella Abzug ... Guest of Honor

Gary Weis ... Television Director
Kenny Vance ... Television Producer
Charles Levin ... Television Actor #1
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1 more

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | Canada:18A (Ontario) | UK:12A (re-rating) (2006) | Netherlands:AL | Brazil:12 | South Korea:18 | Argentina:18 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Ireland:18 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:15 (video rating) (1987) | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:R | West Germany:12


Fun Stuff

Trivia:

Director's Trademark (Woody Allen): [writer] Jill is a novelist. more

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: In the first scene at Elaine's, as Isaac is beginning to say something, someone (presumably a customer of the restaurant, as it was running while they were shooting) walks in front of the camera. Isaac laughs, and quickly recovers with an impromptu remark about how his girlfriend has to go and do homework. more

Quotes:

Isaac Davis: No, I didn't read the piece on China's faceless masses, I was, I was checking out the lingerie ads. more

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Trelladiko polyteleias (1989) more

Soundtrack:

Oh, Lady Be Good more


FAQ

Is "Manhattan" based on a novel?
What did Isaac mean when he told Mary that they could "trade fours"?
A Note Regarding Spoilers
more
46 out of 56 people found the following comment useful.
Rhapsody in NYC, 25 January 2003
10/10
Author: tvspace from hiding under my seat

Manhattan is an exhilarating American romance set against the backdrop of New York of the late 70's: my favorite New York, the New York of painters, poets, punks, and Pauline Kael. Three great, very American talents -- Woody Allen, Gordon Willis, and George Gershwin -- intertwine their respective gifts to create a comedy that manages to satisfy both the brain and the heart, and even, perhaps, the lower regions.

Allen is so brainy and such a nebbish that he can get away with gestures that would be painfully sentimental in the hands of any other director: when he begins the movie with fireworks cut to Gershwin, it isn't to soften you up for a soap opera, but to remind you that however much his neuroses may seem to drive the scenes, its the love of New York that drives the movie.

The entire cast is note perfect: Meryl Streep as his caustic bisexual ex-wife, Diane Keaton as a nervous journalist from Philadelphia, and especially Mariel Hemingway, whose performance as Allen's 17-year old girlfriend is charming, heartbreaking, and wise.

Allen's comedy here is at its absolute finest. The fact that it is interwoven with a genuinely moving love story told with a subtlety and indirection that is unheard of in today's mainstream cinema only makes the laughs that much richer.

Gordon Willis' cinematography is good enough for the Museum of Modern Art. Scene after scene leaves a grin on your face as his moving (in both senses) black and white photography floats across the screen.

And finally underlying everything is the music of George Gershwin, whose exubertant melodies propel the movie forward at every turn.

This is Woody Allen's best movie, a great movie, and an American movie in the best sense. As an homage to the city of New York it will surely remain unsurpassed.

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