Woody Allen uses New York City as a backdrop for the familiar story of the successful but neurotic urban over-achievers whose relationships always seem to end prematurely. The film is just as much about how wonderful a place the city is to live in as it is about the elusive search for love.
Allen has, in black and white, captured the inner beauty that lurks behind the outer layer of dirt and grime in Manhattan.
The core of the story revolves around Allen as Isaac Davis, an unfulfilled television writer and his best friends, Yale and Emily, an upper-middle class, educated Manhattan couple. Isaac has lately taken up with Tracy (Mariel Hemingway), a gorgeous 17-year-old, but the age difference is becoming too much of an obstacle for him.
That’s especially the case when he meets Yale’s girlfriend, Mary, a fast-talking, pseudo-intellectual, expertly played by Diane Keaton, to whom Isaac is instantly attracted.
1979: Nominations: Best Supp. Actress (Mariel Hemingway), Original Screenplay
