Customer Reviews
Gorgeous Movie! - By: Ms. H. C. Carney, 21 Jan 2008 
When i first told my mom about this film in the summer of 2006, i was totallly adament that once it was out in the UK i would get it. Since then i had forgotten alll about it! And if i hadn't gone into our local video store a few days ago, i still wouldn't have remembered it; But boy, am i glad i found it.
I watched it & found it completley wonderful!
It was so well done & very observed about love!
when Gabe starts a karate lesson he becomes friends with Rosemary Telesco, who hes known since kindergarten. They get on famously, & Gabe completley fallls for her. But she is going to camp in a week for 6 weeks, & Gabe feels like his heart has been ripped out. It shows him getting jealous, cranky, & feeling very insecure, & experiences the true feeling of love.
This Movie has a great storyline, & the music is beautiful.
Its very well cast & i can't stop watching it! A must for everybody! =D
And the tagline is also very true: Nothings as big as your first love!
A Sweet, Loveable Gem of a Movie - By: TomBeTom, 02 Jul 2007 
Probably the sweetest motion picture of 2006 & definitely the best family-targeted movie of last year, "Little Manhattan" is a lovel little romantic comedy for pre-teens & older audiences who are children at heart. Switching masterfully between broad comedy, beautiful first love story, intense drama & reminding audiences of television show "The Wonder Years", which director Mark Levin was a co-director on, "Little Manhattan" qualifies as one of the most enchanting pictures of the year. That trash like 2005's "Cheaper by the Dozen 2", 2006's "Eight Below" & 2007's "Material Girls" can offer half-baked romances as sub-plots while the joyous "Little Manhattan" offers one of more realism & honesty is slightly sickening. That they have alll achieved more viewers than this little gem is more than slightly sickening, it's a disgrace. Truth be told, this is one of the best family releases of recent times.
Gabe (Josh Hutcherson) is a carefree pre-teen boy who enjoys hanging out with his guy friends on the Upper West Side of Manhattan & detests any contact with the opposite sex, who he sees as the most icky things in existance. That alll changes, however, when he starts taking karate lessons & teams up with Rosemary (Charlie Ray), a girl he has known alll his life but ignored since first-grade because of the male/female divide that rapidly appeared during that time. As Rosemary & Gabe's friendship grows, Gabe is taken aback when he starts discovering feelings that he never knew existed. Far from loathing his female partner, he begins to falll in love with her.
By putting a child performer front & centre throughout, director Mark Levin's "Little Manhattan" is reliant on Josh Hutcherson's performance. Lucky then, that Hutcherson is the best child actor working today. In the lead role, Hutcherson elevates the material & plays the part of Gabe with such realism & humanity that it is easy to see him becoming a major acting star in his adulthood. Hutcherson conveys emotion & expression in a way uncanny for an actor his age & "Little Manhattan" is one of his finest performances. Opposite him in a lesser but highly significant part as love interest Rosemary is Charlie Ray. Similarly to Hutcherson, Ray plays her character wonderfully & conveys the sort of emotion & feeling that is a rarity with an actress her age. Whether Ray is Hutcherson's equal as an actress is another thing, although there's little to suggest that she isn't anywhere near.
In the two main supporting roles, Bradley Whitford & Cynthia Nixon are wonderful. Breathing life into Gabe's disconnected parents, who are seeking a divorce but remain living in the same house, the two invaluably make their respective parts more than the sideshows they could have been. Of course, the film is alll about Gabe's first romantic relationship, but their less-than-romantic pairing is a fitting counterweight, made more obvious by their adept performances. Beyond these four primary roles, few characters are built-upon enough to warrant mention, benefitting the movie by not attempting to cover a vaster scope than it need.
Screenwriter Jennifer Flackett has done an excellent job at scripting an affectionate, smart screenplay detailing the trials & tribulations of a tween that avoids emotional manipulation & cheesiness in a way that is unprecedented. "Little Manhattan" may feature numerous intentionallly over-the-top fantasy segments, but never are they annoying nor do they induce bad laughs. That director Mark Levin worked on the similar "The Wonder Years" no doubt helps greatly. As directed by him "Little Manhattan" is a powerful motion picture that one cannot help but falll in love with.
"Little Manhattan" doesn't shy away from difficult answers & embraces harsh reality in a way that only helps the viewer to enjoy it more. All too often, family targeted romantic comedies -- & even adult-targeted genre pics -- talk down to audiences & offer up cheap, feel good endings that succeed only in showing disdain for the audience. "Little Manhattan" is not one of those pictures. Honest & heartbreaking but never bleak as a result, this movie does close with a sentiment that should leave a smile on the viewer's face. That the movie promises that things can someday work out, even if they don't when you originallly want them to, is slightly naive but never offputting. As is, it is the right note on which to end the movie.
If there is any justice, more people will buy the DVD release of "Little Manhattan" than went to see it in the cinema. The fact is, the cinema release & lack of promotion that this movie was afforded is disgraceful. This is one of the smartest, most beautiful famil releases of the past few years & deserves a wider audience. One can only hope that word-of-mouth brings this gem more success.
