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Little Manhattan (2005)
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Movie Review by Tony 
June 7th, 2006
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LITTLE MANHATTAN is my idea of a film that sounded really good on paper, in theory, and before pre-production. Then they got to actually making it, editing it, and putting it together, and something went really, really wrong. Those reading this might not be familiar with this little film, as it was only released in New York, and made 300k during it's run at the cinema. It did not get a worldwide release, and has recently come to DVD. Now that you are up-to-date with this film, let's get into my review of this film.
Anybody who really knows me, knows I'm a sucker for a good, sweet, sappy story told well with heart and tenderness. I love a good cry and laugh in equal measure. But I can sense when I'm being tugged by the heartstrings poorly, I can tell when my emotions are being played with, when it's not sincere, earnest and heartfelt. I can tell when it's tacked on, too cutesy, and just plain trying too hard. That is the case with LITTLE MANHATTAN, which is an overly cutesy melodramatic look at first love which knows little about first love, and even less about love in general.
The film opens with ten-year-old Gabe (Josh Hutcherson), growing up in Manhattan with his soon to be divorced parents, who are in the middle of a messy divorce. So messy in fact that his parents still live together, and they have names on their food and drinks to claim ownership. Gabe and his father played by Bradley Whitford spend their days practicing place kicking, and Gabe avoiding a big bully. In order to properly be prepared for this bully in-case it's time to throw fisticuffs, Gabe convinces his father to let him join karate. This is one of those karate classes run by an overly serious, intense, and wildly over the top master.
While at karate, he runs into an old friend from the Kindergarten years named Rosemary (Charlie Ray). Who looks like the adorable younger sister of Michelle Trachtenberg. He is happy to see a familiar face and they pair up as sparing partners. During this, he starts to notice the 11-year-old Rosemary in a new light. No more cooties, ickyness, or uninterest in the female race. He starts to notice her as adorable, pretty, and worthwhile. They start to hang out more often and his love for young Rosemary only begins to grow to epic proportions.
LITTLE MANHATTAN is told from the point of view of the young boy Gabe, and he tells this from the point of voice overs. But he does voice overs for the entire film, which is a major distraction. Since we are never able to form our own conclusions or thoughts on what is going on. Gabe tells us. Take for example, a scene where he says goodbye to Rosemary and wants to kiss her goodbye and we hear voice overs of him saying "I want to kiss her, be a man, kiss her.". It takes away from the suspense of the film. We want to watch it, observe, and wait for him to kiss her, and then get disappointed when he does not. Not be told by someone what is going on. Let us figure it out on our own.
And another thing, instead of the director pulling back, letting us watch the moments, and giving the actors room to breathe and act out a heartfelt scene, he replaces it with music. There is numerous pop songs in this film in the place of speech, which really kills a lot of scenes that could have been used for heartfelt scenes. The two children actors are wonderful in this film, but they have nothing to work with as far as the script material. They are stuck trying to get something out of nothing as every possible plot twist, complication, or device was used and can be seen from a mile away.
They go out one night to look for an apartment by themselves without their parents knowing. They tell lies and say they are with other friends. So you wait for the moment, where they are going to get caught in and get in trouble. It happens. You wait for the potential fight and the friendly embrace at the end, you get it. It does not do any old stuff really well, and it does not try any new stuff. It took no chances and just kind of wags it's tail like a dog smiling at you, and saying love me, look how cute I am, and embrace me. Especially those dogs charms wear very, very thin.
I believe there is a market for films like this. Teenagers have their romantic comedies, which are not much to be proud of, but at least they have them. Adults have their romantic comedies, which are hit and miss, but they are there. Pre-teens need something that shows the messiness, eagerness, and confusion that goes on in an early age of discovering girls and the cooties going bye bye. This is not that film.
-Tony Farinella
Grade: C
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