Andrew Sarris

“…. Leslie Fiedler once complained that no character in a Hollywood movie ever seemed to have read a book, and most of us said thank god because ostentatious book readers would tend to seem anemic and impotent on the screen. This is not so in Manhattan. Woody Allen's Isaac Davis, Diane Keaton's Mary Wilke, Michael Murphy's Yale, Mariel Hemingway's Tracy, Meryl Streep's Jill, and Anne Byrne's Emily lose none of their vitality and individuality simply because they are capable of sharing a cultivated milieu with each other.

“…. [B]y and large [Allen] gets by with the most self-conscious camera conceits imaginable because of the force and strength of the characterizations in their somber setting. In coming to care about their fates, I found myself sorry to see the picture end, and I cannot remember the last time I experienced that feeling.

“Hemingway, Streep, and Byrne are as lovely and luminously womanly as Keaton, and Murphy proves again how subtly accomplished he is, but the big acting revelation of the film is Allen himself….”

Andrew Sarris
Village Voice, April 30, 1979
[cut some, maybe]

Sarris before the 1979 Academy Awards:

‘My ideal choice for Best Actress is Hanna Schygulla for The Marriage of Maria Braun, despite James Wolcott’s carefully aimed kick at her powdered thighs in one of his recent digressions. In the realm of the real, however, Sally Field is plenty okay in Norma Rae, even over such strong competition as Jill Clayburgh in Starting Over, Marsha Mason in Chapter Two, Jane Fonda in The China Syndrome, and Bette Midler, for whom the bloom seems to be off The Rose. I regret that, even in this strong roster, no place was found for Diane Keaton’s marvelously self-mocking portrayal in Manhattan. It is a subtler and more dynamic characterization than even her Annie Hall.”

Village Voice, April 14, 1980