MovieChat Forums > Manhattan (1979) Discussion > As I've Gotten Older, this Movie has Got...

As I've Gotten Older, this Movie has Gotten Worse


I used to think the people in "Manhattan" were so sophisticated and cool when I first saw it when I was about 15 and living in Flyover Country. NYC was happening and everyone was so smart and talented. Now? I see them for the selfish and immoral people they are. The ending is particularly vulgar as Allen tries to sabatoge the future of a 17 year old girl. It definitely is a beautifully made movie, but the characters are mostly repulsive.

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Those characters were always selfish and immoral and Allen portrays them as such. It's just that you didn't realize it until many, many years later; it's not a reflection of the film, but rather of your late realization of what was always present.

Yes, selfish and immoral characters, but still a great film.

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Interesting. As I've gotten older, this movie has gotten better and better. It's definitely for a mature, thinking audience. Something Hollywood doesn't seem to think exists anymore (and, let's be honest, after that crapshow of an election in 2016, who can blame Hollywood for thinking this is a land of idiots?).

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I just watched it last night for the first time in probably 30 years. I had it in my mind that it was a masterpiece and was surprised at how much I disliked it last night. Emotionally shallow, neurotic people. I didn't really care for anybody in the film. I was also planning on watching "Annie Hall" again, but now I'm afraid to...

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Hey, guys, comedies are not about nice, or at least competent, people. Tragedies are. Comedy shows Man at his worst, not at his most charming and loveable. Yes, Woody Allen played a selfish, manipulative schmuck in this. What else is new? He didn’t want Marielle Hemingway to go to London for a year. What is the last line of the movie, from the youngest member of the cast? “People don’t always change. You’ve got to have a little faith.” The most mature and genuinely insightful line in an entire movie about people whose lives are built on posing and bullshit. By the way, I still think this is easily Allen’s best movie, and the fact that it’s the only one that he hates makes me certain of my conclusion. I don’t think he ever realized what his talent really was.

But I can’t say any of that about Annie Hall.

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The film was meant to portray characters that way. They were wrong.

That scene of Allen confronting his friend at the college perfectly illustrates it. He comes to the realization of how horrible they are.

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Manhattan is one of the greatest american films of the past half century, IMO. The 70’s had some incredible films, and I personally love this the most of all Woody Allen’s films.

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Agreed. It's one of a great number of Allen's films that should be more renowned than they are.

Manhattan
Crimes and Misdemeanors
The Purple Rose of Cairo
Radio Days
Match Point

I could go on.

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