paul d
The best thing about Two Men in Manhattan is the late 50s Manhattan mood that it transmits, with great locations and excellent photography, and some good music. But the story is a bit weak and the pace a bit slow, with insufficient tension built up prior to it's nice finish. And the film, sound and music editing was not up to Melville's usual standards. He is a better director and writer than actor, although he scores just OK on all three counts in this film. Pierre Grasset was the only source of life in this overly subdued movie.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
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Audience Member
A French noir in Manhattan says it all. A lot of missed opportunities here as a journalist and drunken photographer who oozes slime set out to find a missing French diplomat who doesn't show up for a UN vote. From theater, to brothel, to strip joints and dive bars, the underbelly of the city intrigues. This was obviously a thinly disguised chance to mix jazz, NYC, noir cinematography in homage to the city. But, alas, with all the rich material, it stalls, and flounders.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/14/23
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Audience Member
I guess it's Melville's very personal tourist (and moralist) fantasy, with a rather weak excuse for a plot attached (though it finally gets interesting when they find the body). But it's much too stilted, especially in its interpersonal interactions, to be "cool" (as badly as it wants to be).
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/24/23
Full Review
walter m
In "Two Men in Manhattan," a French diplomat has gone missing in New York City. Due to the sensitive nature of his work, Moreau's(Jean-Pierre Melville, who also wrote, directed and produced) superiors have told him to be careful with his journalistic investigations. However, his first two inquiries lead nowhere. So, he turns to Delmas(Pierre Grasset), a photgrapher for Match magazine, who he was warned about probably due to his drinking. But it is Delmas who comes up with some viable leads for them to try. However, unbeknowst to the two men, somebody is trailing them...
Like I've pointed out elsewhere, the first thing European filmmakers want to do when they come to America is to find a dive bar. And that especially seems true for Jean-Pierre Melville with his film "Two Men in Manhattan" in creating an instant nostalgia from a now bygone New York(at least Rockefeller Center has not changed much) that is actually a little ahead of its time, and the characters inhabiting it. While Moreau keeps his distance from the sights and sounds of the city, it is Delmas who has fallen prey to its jazzy siren call. But all of that cool atmosphere can only get the movie so far with its weak mystery and lesser story, as it goes on just a little too long for its own good.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Jean-Pierre Melville's Two Men in Manhattan (aka Deux hommes dans Manhattan) may not be one of the director's best and most-remembered works, but that's no reason to dismiss it completely. After all, it features many of the visual and aesthetic qualities that he is known for. The fact that it wasn't distributed in the U.S. in 1959 as a part of the French New Wave is the real shame of it all. The problem is with the story, as it takes a bit of a turn and avoids what films of its type usually do. Film noirs, traditionally (as with this film) introduce the plot element that gets the story going, which is either a death or the promise of one. In other words, intrigue. It really switches gears when it becomes more about our lead characters and never resolves the story it sets up. It's not a bad idea, but our leads our just not that interesting. We don't learn a whole lot about them, and what we learn about them later is just basic character motivations, never digging any deeper than that. At a lean 85 minutes, the film feels like it's missing something. To be fair, it wasn't intended to feel that way, but because of it going in a different direction, it does. Still, as a noir film, it's a good one. As a French New Wave film? It's a little questionable, but at times it feels like it does, indeed, belong.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/26/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Minor Melville (and only is second foray into this noirish territory) but still enjoyable. The director himself takes a lead role as the press agent seeking to find out what happened to a French diplomat who didn't show up for the U. N. General Assembly meeting. This takes him and a photographer sans scruples around NYC mostly by night, visiting the more illicit spots (1950s-style). Clearly low-budget but still foreshadowing some of the techniques and themes that Melville made his own in the coming decade.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/04/23
Full Review
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