Product Description

Little Manhattan is a feel-good comedy that's perfect for kids and adults alike. In a city known for excitement, two young friends are about to embark on the greatest adventure of all. Gabe (Josh Hutcherson) and Rosemary (newcomer Charlie Ray) have known each other nearly all of their lives, but when they come face-to-face in a karate class, they see each other in a whole new light. Filled with all the magical, marvelous?and maddening?moments of first love, this charming film is fun for the whole family!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21218 in DVD
• Brand: NIXON,CYNTHIA
• Released on: 2006-04-04
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .26 pounds
• Running time: 84 minutes

Customer Reviews

A Woody Allen-esque tale for the elementary school set
One of the genuine surprises to be released in 2005 was Little Manhattan, a charming, precious (without overdoing it) Woody Allen-esque ode to New York City for the elementary school set. It asks that age old question do girls mature faster than boys and proceeds to tell the story of a relationship between a boy and girl from the his point-of-view. The film was given very limited release in theatres and is now out on DVD where it will hopefully find a wider audience.

Most of the action takes place on the Upper West Side and for anyone who's lived there they will recognize familiar landmarks like the Beacon Theater, the Planetarium and Riverside Park. A lot of credit goes to filmmakers Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett for staying true to the geography of the city and shooting entirely on location as they provide a wonderful travelogue of the lesser known side of Broadway.

Little Manhattan doesn't sugarcoat the messiness of relationships and the sometimes bittersweet nature of love no matter what the age. Even when things don't work out, hopefully you learn from the experience and are a better person for having gone through it. Most kid's movies are either too cutesy or try too hard to make them little J.D. Salinger-esque adults. This film gets it just right, treading the line between both, never having too much of one and always maintaining a balance.

There is an audio commentary by director Mark Levin and screenwriter Jennifer Flackett. They consciously wrote their movie in a way that it had to be shot in New York City and could not be doubled in Toronto as is commonly done. Levin and Flackett acknowledge Woody Allen as an obvious influence on their movie, citing Annie Hall specifically, and also When Harry Met Sally. This is a pleasant track as they take us through various aspects of their feature film debut.

There are four deleted scenes with optional commentary by Levin and Flackett. In a nice scene, Gabe has a vision of people on the street spontaneously breaking into a song and dance number that should have stayed in.

"Helmet Interview." Levin and Flackett ran into interference from the studio that feared a backlash from Gabe riding around on his scooter without a helmet and so to appease them, they filmed all the scooter scenes with and without the helmet and this extra presents the helmet footage.

"Sheep Meadow Segment" takes us through the sequence where sheep magically appear in Central Park. Using live sheep proved problematic so they used CGI to create a herd that they could control. This featurette shows the various stages of the sequence.

"From Scout to Screen" takes us through the scouting of locations for several sequences to the final cut that is in the film.

Finally, there is the theatrical trailer.

childhood revisited
I have just seen this movie on an airplane. I was wonderful. It was so accurate about young love and the feelings it brought up, that I was instantly transported back to my childhood! It was funny and touching, and made me forget my surroundings for the full 2 hours! It made me cry in some spots, and laugh out loud in others. All in all I recommend this movie for all who want to take a trip back to their childhood. The lead actor and actress are wonderful, and I expect them to have a very sucessful career. The lead actress is beautiful, and will be a stunning young woman very soon.

Didn't see that coming.....
OK, finally the wait was finally over and Australian audiences got to see the movie... In MARCH!

I went with my two girlfriends to see it last Sunday afternoon. I had read the reviews where people had said the dialog was too old for the Gabe... I disagree... considering he is an only child of what can be assumed to be professional parents - in this world of instant and constant media, a 11 year old in that situation could well be versed in what was going on around him.

I went with the expectation to enjoy the movie... but I was really quite suprised that it twanged at my heart strings right at the end... I'm not ashamed to admit, I got a little misty eyed when Adam told his son he had cleared out some of the spare room... it was so sweet.

Loved it, can't wait to get my copy!