Manhattan
BLU-RAY 
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Director:
Woody Allen Actors: Woody Allen Mariel Hemingway Diane Keaton Rating:
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WHAT'S IT ABOUT?
A writer (Allen) juggles his relationships with his lesbian ex-wife (Meryl Streep), his seventeen-year-old girlfriend (Hemingway) and his friend's lover (Keaton).
IS IT A GOOD MOVIE?
One of the finest monologues in cinema comes from Woody Allen’s Manhattan. His character, writer Isaac Davis, rests on his couch with a tape recorder and ponders just what makes life worth it:
“Why is life worth living? It's a very good question. Um... Well, there are certain things I guess that make it worthwhile. Uh…Like what…okay…um…For me, uh…ooh…I would say... what, Groucho Marx, to name one thing…uh…um…and Wilie Mays…and um…the 2nd movement of the Jupiter Symphony…and um…Louis Armstrong, recording of ‘Potato Head Blues’…um…Swedish movies, naturally…Sentimental Education by Flaubert…uh…Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra…um…those incredible Apples and Pears by Cezanne…uh…the crabs at Sam Wo's…uh…Tracy's face…”
And so here is a brief review of Manhattan, inspired by the above passage.
Why is Manhattan worth seeing? It’s a very easy question to answer. Well, there are many aspects that make it worthwhile. For me, uh…what, Allen himself, to name one thing. Um…and interstellar perversion…and um…the relationship that foretold his greatest controversy…and um…George Gershwin, recording of Rhapsody in Blue…um…the opening sequence, naturally…the Oscar-nominated screenplay by Allen and Marshall Brickman…uh…Diane Keaton, Meryl Streep…um…that exquisite black and white cinematography by Gordon Willis…uh…the most optimistic line in any Allen film: “Not everybody gets corrupted,”...uh…Mariel’s face.
THE EXTRAS
Theatrical Trailer
FINAL DIAGNOSIS
Released alongside Annie Hall, this Blu-ray of Manhattan is superb in every regard (except, of course, the expected lack of special features). MGM has done an incredible job at keeping the feel of Allen’s film and Gordon Willis’ cinematography both natural and faithful to how it was seen in 1979. As with Annie Hall, Allen admirers should trade in the 2000 DVD for this Blu-ray.
