Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

grantss Marty is a butcher who lives in New York. He is a simple, plain man in his 30s. He is unmarried and it seems like he will be single forever. Then one day he meets Clara and they seem perfect for each other. However, his interfering aunt Catherine undermines the relationship. Marty, whose confidence is easily shaken, is soon doubting the relationship. Does it have a future? A sweet, feel-good movie. Simple but effective plot, engaging central character and solid direction. Solid performances with the only major negative being a few overly irritating characters. Does feel a bit dated in some respects, but the central theme is timeless.

l_rawjalaurence On its release in 1954, MARTY was feted by critics and audiences alike as an accurate portrait of a certain strand of working-class life in New York at that time.Shot in and around the Bronx, Delbert Mann's cinematic rendering of a play that had already been a success on television captures a world long past, of small shops, seedy bars, and crowded streets, where people could walk out at all times without fear of being attacked or molested. Although comprised of different ethnic communities, everyone managed to get on with one another, even though there was not much recreation except to go to the dance-hall every Saturday night.Produced by Burt Lancaster, MARTY brings familiar television techniques to the big screen. Much of the action unfolds in a series of close- ups, two-shots, and tracking shots, focusing our attention on the relationships between the protagonists. One particularly memorable sequence occurs when Marty (Ernest Borgnine) meets Clara (Betsy Blair) in the dance-hall. The two of them smooch to the sound of the music; as they do so, they move through 180 degrees, so that we can see their faces as they hang on one another's shoulders. Their sense of self-doubt is palpable; although they force themselves to smile at one another, their happy expressions are only skin-deep; the frown soon returns, as if they are not quite sure about what they are doing.In Marty's case, such doubt is justified. Living with an over- protective mother (Esther Minciotti), he frequently submits to her authority, even when it is to his personal disadvantage. Director Mann emphasizes his isolation in one sequence taking place at night, where he walks morosely across the frame, his face turned to the left of the camera as he smokes a cigarette. He completely ignores his mother, as if unwilling to say anything to her.Likewise Marty is inhibited by the need to sustain a front of aggressive masculinity in front of his drinking buddies, all of whom describe women in derogatory terms as "tomatoes" or "dogs," depending on their moods, and spend much of their time at dance- halls as professional wallflowers, gazing at but not committing themselves to any women in particular. In the film's closing sequences Mann shows how Marty is hemmed in, both verbally as well as physically, as he sits in a small room, yearning to escape from his friends but lacking the gumption to do so. The ending comes as a surprise, at Marty at last detaches himself from his leech-like "friend" Angie (Joe Mantell), and phones up Clara, closing the door of the public telephone behind. Symbolically speaking this is an important moment, showing how Marty has at last managed to put an emotional as well as a physical barrier between himself and his buddies.The production admirably captures the claustrophobic nature of Marty's life, as he moves between his cramped family home, to an overcrowded bar. Likewise Clara has to share a small apartment with her father and brother, and endure the torment of watching nighttime television where the audience laugh hysterically while her face remains mask-like and emotionless.Mann's film might have a sentimental ending, but it vividly captures the everyday sexism and the apparently inflexible codes of masculinity and femininity that inhibited rather than promoted interaction between the sexes during the mid-Fifties. As a sociological document, as well as a piece of heartwarming entertainment, it cannot be bettered.

t-murphy-94619 There has never been a pair of leading actor and actress with better romantic chemistry than Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair. They amplify each others emotion. Mary's loving relationship with his mother is also shown greatly. This movie communicates the stress of finding the love of your life in a heartfelt way. Their are certain points where scenes drag on too long. The awkwardness of the ballroom scene is perfectly timed but the out on the town scene seems to take too long. This movie does seem too simple at times. As if the characters are just going through the motions of life without a purpose but that is also the point of the film. This film has a hard time balancing the realistic feel of the story with monotony. But the chemistry between the lead characters draws it all together.

saalehab It really is a realistic simple love story. The characters are relateable and the story is heart warming to those who watch it. I would definitely recommend this to people who like more realistic love stories between to regular people who aren't deathly attractive or a handsome devil. I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would, i had imagined I'd get a little bored but it kept me watching with really great acting by Borgnine and Blair who really had good chemistry. You found yourself rooting for Borgnine's character because you really felt for him, which I attribute to good acting. It was shot rally well, and directed well really expressing the characters feelings through their actions. A really nice movie