My wife made a startling confession recently by saying that she'd never seen Woody Allen's arguable meisterwork "Annie Hall." We rented it with all speed. Peg loved it, of course. Personally speaking, I'm partial to Woody's more absurdist work ala "Sleeper," "Bananas" and "Take the Money & Run" (yes, I know, he didn't direct that one, pedants). In any case, this episode started us on a bit of a Woody Allen kick. Earlier this week, when Peg went out to visit some family, I popped in the DVD of another of Woody's more celebrated films, "Manhattan." Still co-starring Diane Keaton as his primary foil (Mia Farrow hadn't crept into the scene yet, though her sister Tisa has a fleeting cameo in a party scene), "Manhattan" isn't half the film "Annie Hall" is, but it's still pretty compelling. I don't totally buy the sexual chemistry and romance between Woody's character Ike and 17-year-old Tracey, played with smoldering cuteness by Mariel Hemingway. I also found it somewhat sobering that I'm virtually the same age as Woody's crisis-laden protagonist.
While the film may be inherently flawed, it's still a lovely depiction of Manhattan from a bygone era (see also Woody's images of a since radically facelifted Soho in "Hannah & Her Sisters"). And there is simply no arguing with the film's opening montage (see below).
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