Little Manhattan

Remembering my own youth, growing up and discovering girls for the first time, I was able to relive some of those moments, some funny, some agonizing, all right on.

Josh Hutcheson and Charlie Ray both did an outstanding job portraying the (sometimes) pain of growing up -- the sweaty palms, the horror of not knowing what to say, or saying it and being afraid of sounding so stupid. Oh, the lost opportunities! At least, I never got cooties.

What a great performance by Miss Ray in her screen debut. She can do more with a smile and a raised eyebrow than most actresses can do with a thousand pages of script. Hope she keeps brightening up the world.

This film was recommended to me by a conservative organization that promotes traditional family values and decency. It is worth a look.

"Little Manhattan" is like a junior version of "Annie Hall" or a Manhattan take on "A Little Romance," which introduced Diane Lane in Paris.

It is a funny, delightful fable of boys and girls interacting with the opposite sex and working and divorcing parents that is a refreshing diversion from the jaundice of New York kids in "The Squid and the Whale." It is an original and marvelous conceit to try and get inside the head of a boy during that summer in the city when the scales are lifted on the perception of girls as givers of cooties to givers of complicated joy.

While married couple, and ex-New Yorkers, writer Jennifer Flackett and director Marc Levin formerly worked on "Wonder Years," and borrow several of those techniques, the bit too wise and nostalgic voice-over narration seems to be coming contemporaneously from the sympathetic Josh Hutcherson as almost 11 year old "Gabe." The object of his attention, Charlie Ray's very self-possessed "Rosemary," seems straight out of "Mad Hot Ballroom," which featured real life kids of the same age discussing similar issues as these kids do about the maturity levels of boys and girls. Such touches as the diverse karate class (the sitcom Ashton Kutscher comparison to the orange belt interloper is very funny) to schoolyard bully keep the film grounded in a kid's experiences, though the visual references to "The Graduate" and "Rebel Without A Cause" are a bit precious even for know-it-all kids.

The affectionate sense of a neighborhood being a kid's whole world is captured literally and through animated graphics diagramming the Upper West Side. This is not much changed from the neighborhood of another Natalie Wood film, her little girl in "Miracle on 34th Street," just with a bit more racial diversity. It's very natural that these folks bump into people they know while shopping at the Fairway specialty supermarket, and there's nice costume touches of worn, local T-shirts from Fordham Law and the American Museum of Natural History. I'm not sure non-New Yorkers will appreciate how Broadway can divide their perceptions such that kids can describe themselves as being Riverside Park kind of people vs. Central Park, but the production design well establishes the comparisons with a hyper-scheduled family, "they must be really committed to public education," who live in a duplex overlooking the latter park with a full-time nanny and treat their daughter to a classic New York experience of a performance at the Cafe Carlyle. (I remember my sons coming home with accounts of similar descriptions of classmate's apartments in comparison with our crowded digs.)

There's lots of "Ally McBeal"-type fantasy/over-active imagination elements, from funny uses of the very NYC streetscape like concert posters and theater marquees, so I had to chalk a bit up to similar fantasy that even sophisticated, "New Yorker"-reading, West End Avenue parents distracted by divorce, at least not as much as the oblivious mother in "E.T.", would let a fifth grader have the run of nine square blocks on his razor scooter (I didn't let my kids going to school in Manhattan loose until into 7th grade). It is shown realistically, and very amusingly, how lost they get on their first, unauthorized trip to the wilds of Christopher Street in Greenwich Village (even his dad feels that's way too far away to live), which recalls another madcap young 'uns in Manhattan George Roy Hill film "The World of Henry Orient." At least the caregivers are appropriately distraught when the kids seek too much freedom.

The musical selections are marvelous throughout, including originals, apt covers and cheerful new songs that capture being young and in love and confused in New York.

Bradley Whitford does parenting more warmly here than he did in "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants," maybe because he's relating to a boy. Cynthia Nixon is a believable mom with no stereotyped ticks.

We've come a long way in New York City since those same benches on the Broadway malls were shown so frighteningly in "The Panic in Needle Park." With the great bulk of Hollywood movies about kids of this age taking place in seemingly anonymous suburbs or bucolic exurbs where everyone lives in McMansions with SUVs, and indie films focusing on dysfunctional or otherwise deprived families, it is a pleasure to see such a sweet film about normal,yeah, middle class, city kids.

But you don't have to have been a city kid to remember that first crush and this charming film will bring all those euphoric feelings and embarrassing memories rushing back to adult viewers. Reminds me that I owe a certain Eddie L. an apology. . .

In Manhattan, the 10 ¾ years old Gabe (Josh Hutcherson) finds his first love when he meets his former kindergarten mate, the eleven years old Rosemary (Charlie Ray), in his karate classes. Confused with his new feelings and with the divorce process of his beloved parents, Leslie (Cynthia Nixon) and Adam (Bradley Whitford), he experiences the delightful unknown sensation of being in love for the first time.

When my friends from the best rental in Rio de Janeiro recommended this movie, I was quite reluctant to buy it. Fortunately I listened to their advice and saw this great little gem. The sensitive director Mark Levin has captured many adorable scenes and sequence of this lovely and charming central pair in delightful situations. Further, orphans of "Sex & the City" like me have the chance to see Cynthia Nixon (Miranda) and Willie Garson (Stanford Blatch) again. I would like to thank you, Cris and my dearest friends of Imaginario, for your recommendation. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O ABC do Amor" ("The ABC of Love")

If you live in the City, and you like romantic comedies, this is for you. Sure its simple minded, predictable, and a bit schmoltzy, but it is really great.

First, you get a full and accurate tour of the City: Central Park, Upper West Side, the Village, its all in there, with proper continuity in the story (i.e. characters don't hyperspace around town to make the shots work).

Second, you get a great "first love" story. The lead character "Gabe" provides an amazing narrative of his experience with "Rosemary". It has the exploratory vantage point of youth coupled with the insightful perspective of adulthood.

And did I mention that you get Full Frontal New York City? Yeah, the City that is a city is basically an excellent supporting character in the movie, gently providing background and balance to the story.

Again, it won't be winning any awards anytime soon, but it will put a smile on your face.

I want to shine the spotlight on a nice, little movie that might slip under your radar, and it shouldn't. LITTLE MANHATTAN is about a young boy in NYC, named Gabe, and his first crush on a girl, ever. Quite an awkward transition, considering girls have cooties, and are gross horrible creatures to a boy of ten. Our hero though is growing up. Presently Gabe is 10 ¾ years old and the girl of his affection, is 11 year old Rosemary, who is quite a match in the karate class they both attend. Quite suddenly this strange change occurs and there Rosemary is. The same girl he had grown up with in school, and went to kindergarten with, but now it is different. He actually notices her. Where did this nervousness come from that springs up every time he is in her presence? What does it mean? It does not help matters any that his parent's are in the middle of a prolonged divorce, where they have to cohabitate the same apartment until the paperwork goes through. Oh, the insecurity! This thing called "love" is sure accompanied by a fair share of highs and lows. We were all there (or will be), what an age. I certainly am glad that you only have to go through that part of growing up, only once. The film captures the age & subject matter perfectly. All the questions, inner dialogue, and those puzzling things we notice about the opposite sex (and continue to notice as we grow up, I might add). That treacherous area we tread between youth and adolescence, fraught with a childlike confusion at this new territory. The two young actors playing Gabe and Rosemary hit the right chords. The filmmakers capture their viewpoint wonderfully, splashing it onto the screen. It is a great joy to watch this awkward stage played out so well, on film, in this love story for all ages. Don't let this one slip away. Rated PG.