![]() As the film proceeds we follow Marty as he attempts to begin relationships with females that are mainly acquaintances, ships floating by in the dead of the night that you may wonder where they traveled after your encounter, but you'll never see them again. Even with all of these people in his life, Marty is lonely. ![]() The film stars Ernest Borgnine as the title character, a butcher who lives with his mother and hangs out with his buddies at night and on weekends. Marty stands as the originator of this type of plot where a young man has stayed with his mother beyond his years and is just following the current that is life. There was an emphasis on just hanging out and killing time until the next day to start again or the work their way into the next weekend of killing time until Monday. ![]() Show Moreĭo you remember all of those movies in the 1990's about someone who didn't know what they wanted to be or where they wanted to go. I don't see the film as worthy of four Oscars and four other nominations, it just doesn't seem to be in that category, but if you're looking for a quiet, touching film, this is a good one. Lastly, the film has some nice street scenes, which underscore its realism. Minicotti's performance as the mother is excellent, and we see how she understands this issue when it relates to her sister's situation, but then has difficulty applying it to her own. It also shows us the tension between wanting to support one's parents in their old age by having them live under the same roof, but just how big of a strain that might be. Director Delbert Mann and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky show us some of the destructive ways men behave towards women - looking at girlie magazines, reading unrealistic accounts of women's behavior in pulp fiction, and looking for 'sure things' on nights of revelry. It's simple on the surface but I liked it for its nuances. There is such purity and grace in her character and performance.įor anyone who has been lonely or wondered about ever finding someone, the film will likely strike a chord. The film is especially touching in its moments of honesty, the most memorable for me being Blair explaining to Borgnine in the simplest, most authentic way, why she shied away from kissing him. Borgnine is clearly a gentleman and a nice guy, but shows his frustration and angst in a couple of nice scenes. While she's part of the chorus around him which is critical of him still being single, which includes his customers and friends, they all have a part in trying to keep him that way when he meets a nice young woman (Betsy Blair). In 'Marty', Borgnine is a 34 year old unmarried butcher who still lives with his mother (Esther Minciotti). Both are quiet and understated, and highlight loneliness and disillusionment in very real ways. 'Marty' reminds me of the film 'The Catered Affair', which would come out the following year, and also star Ernest Borgnine. As an early reminder that "average folks" deserve butterflies-inducing love too, it's a radiant, big-hearted tale. But 'Marty' was admittedly made in a simpler time and its intentions follow suit, especially when considering the ways Marty himself contrasts against the other men presented in the film. ![]() In many ways, the elusive "Nice Guy" archetype is being born on screen right before our very eyes. But the ship swiftly rights itself with a follow-up scene grounded in accountability and mutual understanding. 'Marty' teeters into indulging toxic male entitlement during a moment in which the titular character becomes enraged because he's denied a simple kiss after being sweet to his date all evening. I love the parallels of growth in 'Marty', how the entire cast is juggling degrees of social pressure and being pushed out of their comfort zones: a humble man learns to leap, a caring mother readapts to change (and another one refuses to), young parents fight to reclaim their agency, and a shy women owns her vulnerability.
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