LITTLE MANHATTAN
US, 2005, 90 minutes, Colour.
Josh Hutcherson, Charlie Ray, Bradley Whitford, Cynthia Nixon.
Directed by Mark Levin.
A family film is popular. This is certainly the case with Little Manhattan. Some reviewers had mentioned that it was very nice. The American Bishops Conference recommended it. They listed it in their Top Ten Best Films for Families of 2005. And they were right.
It is not the greatest film that ever was, but it has a lot going for it, especially for family audiences or, more specifically, families who have children around the ten mark. Especially, if they have boys that age.
The screenplay was written by husband and wife team, Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin, with Levin directing his first feature. However, he had long experience in writing the television series, The Wonder Years, which used a voiceover technique for the main character to explain not just what was happening but what he was thinking and feeling. He uses the same device here to great effect.
This is a film about Gabe, a ten year old boy in New York City. He is played so well by Josh Hutcherson, not only in acting but speaking the well-written voiceover. He tells us how awful he and his basketball playing friends find girls. But, then… In his karate class, he is paired with Rosemary Telesco (newcomer Charlie Ray) whom he has known since kindergarten and soon he is smitten, in a very ten year old way. So, the audience becomes Gabe’s confidante, privy to all his feelings, all his thoughts, his sense of inferiority at times, his amazement at how the thought of Rosemary affects him.
This is done in a wonderfully charming way. In fact, it is also wonderful to see children on screen who are well-mannered, well-spoken and have a love and respect for their parents. (Parents who go with their children to see Little Manhattan will be pleased with these young role models.)
The action takes place over a week before Rosemary has to go to summer camp. It is nice to watch how Gabe and Rosemary get to know each other better, share discussions (though at times he wonders what on earth he is to say), argue whether girls become more mature than boys at their age.
There is a mini-crisis at one stage. Rosemary’s parents are very well-off and have a beautiful apartment overlooking Central Park. Her parents are affectionate and have adopted a little Chinese girl. Gabe’s parents, on the other hand, began romantically (as we see in a flashback), but have drifted apart emotionally and do not communicate well. However, they are living in the same apartment until the divorce proceedings are complete. Rosemary’s family opens up another view of love and marriage for Gabe.
The children decide that they should help Gabe’s father find an apartment and go off without telling the truth about where they were. They are found out. There is a good scene where Gabe’s mother and father deal with it sensibly but with a proper sense of discipline.
When Rosemary invites Gabe to accompany her and her parents to a concert at a hotel, he dresses up for her very smartly but then takes the plunge and gives Rosemary a modest peck of a kiss goodnight. For Gabe, this leads to upset and disaster that Rosemary might not like him any more. And he howls with grief. A good scene follows where Gabe’s father (The West Wing’s Bradley Whitford) explains how he and his wife (Cynthia Nixon) gradually stopped speaking and telling the truth to each other. This inspires Gabe to find Rosemary and talk. And it enables Dad to talk to Mum and come together again.
Wishful thinking? Maybe. But this is a very positive presentation of decent and deeper family values.
1. An appealing film? A nice film, anchored in the realities of family and of divorce?
2. The title, the perspectives of New York City, of Manhattan, the landmarks, the streets, the theatres and cinemas, schools? Riding down the streets on the scooter and absorbing atmosphere? A New York story, yet a universal story?
3. The voice-over, Gabe and his perspectives on life, on himself, on his parents, the divorce, their living at home? His friends, their boyish outlooks on life?
4. Rosemary, her loving parents, at home, adopting the Chinese child? Supportive parents?
5. Gabe, going to the karate class, encountering Rosemary, knowing her in kindergarten days, now her partner in the classes, their work together? The effect on Gabe, his confiding everything about his feelings to the audience? Audiences identifying with him?
6. Gabe and Rosemary together, their respective ages, 10 and 11, the experiences of boys and girls at this age? Gabe and his feelings, and emerging of love, without his realising what was happening? The details about his feelings? Rosemary and her response? They’re talking things over? Dressing up for the concert, accompanying Rosemary and her parents? Comparisons with parents, the kiss and its effect, the decision to leave home together? Gabe worrying that after the kiss Rosemary might not like him many more?
7. Gabe’s parents, the flashbacks and their initial love, changing over the years, growing apart? The decision to divorce? But having to live under the same roof? The effect of this on each other, on Gabe? The film delineating their characters, their strengths – as well as what drew them apart?
8. Gabe and Rosemary, the nature of friendship, the nature of love, young children and their emotional confusion?
9. The buildup to the climax, the fantasy elements and imagination, the friendship and love, Gabe’s parents and their responding to his situation, the possibility for their coming together again?
10. A nice film for younger children, the parents, with a moral perspective?
