Manhattan

Woody Allen, 1979

4/5

Woody Allen directs and stars in this classic black and white film about a writer who is torn between two relationships. One relationship is with a young seventeen year old girl named Tracy (Mariel Hemingway), and the other is with his best friend Yale's (Michael Murphy) mistress Mary (Diane Keaton).

The heavy-hearted dialogue is filled with intellectual grit and witty humor. The film explores the concept of opposites attracting. When Allen's character Isaac meets Mary for the first time, he acts as if he can't stand to hear her talk. The attraction grows, after lots of pigtail pulling. The highlights of Keaton's career are certainly her roles in Woody Allen's films, and she really provides an exceptional performance here consistent with her performance in Annie Hall two years earlier. Her confidence on screen is obvious. Hemingway is alluring as the innocent, introverted, culture-hungry high-schooler. Her character is a good example of the younger girl attached to the older man for what might possibly be the wrong reasons. She has no long-term relationships under her belt, and her lack of experience makes her vulnerable to Isaac's wise charm. Isaac successfully channels Allen's neurotic charm and quick banter. It's Woody Allen's love poem to one of his earliest muses - his dear hometown. So many beautiful images that could only be shown in black and white. The planetarium scene, the rain fall in Central Park, and the carriage ride also in Central Park. The skyline shots of with the array of illuminated squares. The classic shot of the bench in front of the Brooklyn Bridge. The deep blacks and the grainy grays are mesmerizing and effectively capture the Big Apple in the late 1970's. It's certainly one of his more inviting films. Romantic comedies are certainly his wheel-house, and he's effective at telling a story of a group of people completely preoccupied by their pursuit of love in his beloved Manhattan. 

Meatballs

Ivan Reitman, 1979


2/5

          Tripper (Bill Murray) is a fun-seeking camp counselor who is trying to make sure all of the kids at summer camp have a good time, including the outcasts. He tries to boost the confidence of quiet Crockett (Russ Banham), while also trying to win the various competitions against the rival Camp Mohawk.
          This is Bill Murray's first starring role and a predecessor to other successful Reitman film's Stripes, Ghostbusters & Ghostbusters II. It has the typical high jinks and quirky humor that one would come to expect from Murray, but ultimately falls flat because that's really ALL it has going for it. A good portion of the film feels unscripted, which is fine, but there's just not a whole lot there to laugh at. Most of the film feels very dated 34 years later. While Meatballs clearly influenced future Summer Camp films (Heavyweights, Wet Hot American Summer), it's guilty of not maintaining enough structure as its counterparts. It contains a lot of slapstick humor, combined with a lot of physical comedy that treads common themes (bullying the geeks, poking fun at the fat kids, awkward teen romance, social cliques). Groundhog Day, Ghostbusters and pretty much EVERY Wes Anderson film that Bill Murray has been in proves that he needs to have some framework in order to pull it all off. Seeing him dance by himself to disco music is hilarious, don't get me wrong, but not for an hour and a half. For me the more minimalist, restrained Bill Murray has always been the most effective comedically (Life Aquatic, The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore). Meatballs is trumped by the laughs in Wet Hot American Summer, likely due to the fact it's main energy source is child acting and not Michael Ian Black or Paul Rudd.
          Meatballs pops up on a lot of lists of people's favorite Summer Camp films. This is likely because there really aren't a lot of good films in that genre. That's surprising, because one would think it could be a very manageable type of film to create seeing as you don't need a big budget for set design (you can just shoot at one rural location) and all you really need is good comedic acting and a good writing staff.