Given the run of good Woody Allen movies I have lately been on, I thought I would press my luck one more time with Manhattan (1979).  Not to put too fine a point on it, but it looks as though my luck has run out.  There are a few common themes from most Allen movies, and they all revolve around fluidity in relationships.  As I have mentioned when discussing his other work, this is not my ideal.  Call me a square Catholic, a badge I am unafraid to wear, but I prefer something with a little more permanence.  I know that in my discussion of Café Society (2016) I went on about how even with a vocational calling, God can put something else on your heart that you did not expect.  If you are open to the Holy Spirit, if you are obedient to His will, then there is really no decision to make.  You have to go where He guides you.  Oddly enough, and Manhattan makes direct reference to this, but his films refer to this as the heart in not too dissimilar a manner as would a Catholic.  In their nobler moments, his characters will say that they are following their heart.  I submit that doing so without God more often becomes a sad mess.  Allow this analysis to lay out the reasons for why this is the case.

You can tell from the opening narration by Manhattan comedy writer Isaac Davis (Woody Allen) that he is changeable. He is trying to come up with the first few lines of the book he is trying to write about the eponymous locale, and he goes through several versions before settling on one.  We then shift to his questionable taste in women.  In the next scene, he is out with his girlfriend, the seventeen-year-old Tracy (Mariel Hemingway).  He is forty-two, by the way, and is not afraid to talk in front of her about the absurdity of their age difference.  She is fine, it is him that is crazy.  His friends with whom he is on a double date are not much better.  Primarily, it is his closest companion, Yale Pollack (Michael Murphy), who is the issue.  Yale speaks at length about how much he loves his wife, Emily Pollack (Anne Byrne), and yet is also cheating on her with Mary Wilkie (Diane Keaton).  When Isaac and Tracy next see each other, they attend an art opening where they meet up with Mary and Yale.  Isaac’s first impression of Mary is not a favorable one.  She goes on to contradict his favorable reviews of the pieces they discuss, and then claims that most of the giants of Western culture he admires are overrated.  These are not his only problems with members of the opposite sex.  He is also concerned with Jill Davis (Meryl Streep), his ex-wife, who is in the process of publishing a book that includes details about their interactions he would rather not be public.  With all this swirling around, including Yale’s back-and-forth as to whether he should leave his spouse, Isaac decides to quit his job writing for a sitcom in order to concentrate on his book.  It is at this time that Isaac has a chance encounter with Mary and they spend the night chatting into the wee hours of the morning.  These chats become more of a regular thing, though she remains devoted to Yale despite his situation.  Speaking of that “situation,” Yale soon tells Mary that they can no longer see each other, which she does not take well.  Regardless, what do our main two male friends do in the wake of this?  Yale suggests that Isaac ask Mary out, suggesting that she likes Isaac.  Because of the rapport that had been building between them, Isaac does not totally dismiss the idea.  When, finally, he makes his decision, he tells a heartbroken Tracy that he has fallen in love with someone else, and he begins seeing Mary in earnest.  It is Emily who first asks why her and Yale have yet to meet Isaac’s new girlfriend, which leads to an awkward conversation between Isaac and Yale.  Isaac says Mary is okay with a double date, as does Yale.  However, when it comes to the actual night on the town, there is clearly still a lot of tension.  It proves to be too much for Yale, who soon begins calling Mary to ask if they could meet for coffee.  Though she refuses, she does not tell Isaac about these entreaties.  It is about this time that Jill’s book comes out, which adds to Isaac’s stress.  Coming home from having a conversation with his ex-wife and her lover, Isaac is greeted by Mary, who finally admits that she is going back to Yale.  Isaac goes to his friend’s classroom, dragging him out to confront the professor.  Yale says that he has decided to leave his wife, and Isaac is furious with him over the betrayal.  A few days later, Isaac is having lunch with Emily, and she is musing about Yale’s infidelities.  Doing so makes Isaac realize what a good thing he had with Tracy, but he says there is no point in trying to rekindle anything.  Besides, she is about to leave to go to school in London.  Yet, while recording his thoughts, they turn to her and he realizes he still loves . . . the teenager.  Dropping everything, he literally runs across the city and catches Tracy just as she is about to leave for the airport.  Even though he had previously been the one to encourage her to pursue her dreams in England, he now tells her to stay.  She responds by pointing out that she will be back in six months, but he thinks this is too long.  She decides to go anyway, and this is where the film ends.

One could watch Manhattan and find in it many of the issues with modern society that inspired me to start The Legionnaire.  The film is aware of these things, referring to it specifically at times with the rise in violence, for example, or in general terms as the decay of contemporary culture.  The effect this has on people is put succinctly by Mary at the end when she asserts that “everybody gets corrupted.”  Indeed, the world is a corrupting influence, and this is something that has challenged the Catholic Church for centuries before I came along.  The problem with this movie is that the characters seem to have no sense of an ability to be better, to transcend the rising tide of muck and mire.  Remarkably, it is Tracy who represents the kind of attitude to which this Catholic feels more people should aspire when she tells Isaac that he needs to have faith in people.  Isaac believes Tracy will go to London, get caught up in theater society, and forget about him.  What she is asking him to do is not dissimilar to what we have to do in our Faith lives: practicing patience.  One thing that was highlighted during the homily at daily Mass today is our need for seeking the best for others.  This does not necessarily mean doing things for them, but instead helping them along their journey.  For us Christians, this means doing what we can, like praying, to see them along the path to Heaven.  As for the movie, Isaac’s motivations are always self-interested.  Some credit should be given to it for not hiding this aspect of his character.  He, of course, does not think he is a bad guy, but he makes decisions that hurt other people.  While even a Christian would agree that we are not responsible for the feelings of other people, intentions do mean something.  Isaac claims that his intentions are where they should be, but his plea for Tracy to give up her ambitions at the end would argue otherwise.  What God would ask of us is more along the lines of what he advises Tracy to do earlier, and then letting her go through with it.  Doing so would be in keeping with the notion of seeking the betterment of others.

Thus, if you want a Woody Allen movie, see something other than Manhattan.  The characters, except for Tracy, are all a little too self-absorbed.  She is interesting because she behaves more in a Christian manner than any other despite living in sin with an older man.  It is for this, and many other imperfections, that I recommend staying away from this one.