Touches You

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

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.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Do you want your heart warm & toasty? How about a feel good movie that takes you for a journey through human nature up close & personal? Love, friendship, life, work, companionship, intimacy, parents, marriage, and all the normal life problems with solutions presented here for your viewing enjoyment. Who hasn't had some of the thoughts or experiences depicted in this movie? No one and that is what captures you right away. You could be any one of the characters in this movie that's how down to earth it is. Perfect part for Ernie Borgnine too who plays Marty the guy who is just out of luck when it comes to love and purpose but has everything else which fulfills and at the same time reminds you that something is missing. There are so many well directed and acted out scenes that make this a movie that one wants to watch over & over again. I have seen it 20 times and I am not through either. It captures the mood and time of that era and place that enables one to relate to it all without missing a beat. The main points of the movie are delivered up right away too with the remaining part of the film supporting all the premises. We go up and down and identifying with Marty, the lead player is not hard. He wants love but doesn't know what it is or how to go about it and from what he does understand, it just doesn't work for him. His agony is so heartfelt that it is like a cry to the Universe for help and it comes, but not in ways expected. That is what makes it so potent and memorable. There is an especially good scene with Marty and his ma and he is eating dinner that is so well acted out not just for the wanting a plate of your own but for the deep emotions and expressions with no resolutions but also no surrender either. Nice little glimpse into the Italian culture of the time too. Highly recommend a meal while watching, definitely a dessert or snack with a tasty drink and let this little gem go to work on you. It will! Enjoy Hey Marty...whadda you want to do tonight...I dunno whaddaya want to do?

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.

Marty is a great movie and the main reason for that is the great performances given by the two stars, Betsy something (I can't remember sorry) and Ernest Borgnine who I've always been a fan of, who apparently won an Oscar for this which I never knew about. It's good to know he won an Academy Award for this because like I said I've always been a fan of that actor because he always played good characters and just seemed like a really nice guy, but also because in this movie, which I have never even heard of before, he gives just a really fantastic performance as Marty.Marty (Borgnine) is a butcher and one of several children (the only one still living at home) of his Italian mother who worries a lot about him and wants him to find love/a wife. He has all but given up on that and thinks he is too over the hill to hope to find a woman (he's in his 30s) but he relents to her pressure and goes to a dance where he meets a woman who might have similar reservations and also fears.Great story, very honest, and really great performances. Can't recommend this one highly enough.

The movie occurs over one autumn weekend in New York City. Marty Piletti (Ernest Borgnine) is a good-hearted but socially artless thirty-four year old Bronx butcher. He lives with his widowed mother (Esther Minciotti). All of his siblings are married. Older women customers constantly badger the hapless man about marriage and settling down: "When are you gonna get married?" In truth the heavyset Marty, totally disheartened by his rejection by available women, has resigned himself to a permanent single life. He says, "Ma, sooner or later, there comes a point in a man's life when he's gotta face some facts. And one fact I gotta face is that, whatever it is that women like, I ain't got it."At the urging of his mother, on Saturday evening Marty heads to the Stardust Ballroom where younger people congregate, meet, and dance. Mrs. Piletti hopes he will meet a nice young Italian Catholic girl. Marty of course has difficulty in persuading ladies to dance with him. Before long, though, Marty approaches plain looking but decent twenty-nine year-old chemistry teacher Clara Snyder (Betsy Blair), who was abandoned by her rascal of a date. The two lonely people spend the evening enjoying each others' company – dancing, walking, and going to a luncheonette. Marty delivers one of the film's funnier lines, "See, dogs like us, we ain't such dogs as we think we are." Marty is so excited and so overjoyed that he talks a mile a minute: "There I go again. I can't stop talking'." He takes Clara home by bus and promises to call her the following day after Sunday Mass. Meanwhile there are several subplots that do not require reviewing here.On Sunday, Marty's friends and even his mother – who now fears being left alone after conversing with Aunt Catherine (Caterina = Augusta Ciolli) – disparage Clara. Feeling pressure from his mother and friends Marty does not call Clara after Mass. Then early that evening while Marty is with his friends he hears the same old refrain: "What do you feel like doing, Angie?" "I dunno. What do you feel like doing?" "I dunno."Arising from his slumber, Marty mimics the conversation, "'What are you doing tonight? I dunno. What are you doing tonight?' . . . Miserable and lonely and stupid! What am I, crazy or something? I got something good here. What am I hanging around with you guys for?" When his friends ask Marty what is wrong he finally reprimands them, "You don't like her. My mother don't like her. She's a dog. And I'm a fat, ugly man. Well, all I know is I had a good time last night. I'm gonna have a good time tonight. If we have enough good times together, I'm gonna get down on my knees. I'm gonna beg that girl to marry me. If we make a party on New Year's, I got a date for that party. You don't like her? That's too bad." He rushes to the nearest telephone booth to call Clara, who with her parents is watching the Ed Sullivan Show on TV. As he dials the telephone Marty tells his pesky friend (Joe Mantell), "Hey Angie, when are you gonna get married? You oughta be ashamed of yourself. You're thirty-three years old and your kid brothers are married. You oughta be ashamed of yourself." Marty closes the telephone booth door as Clara answers the phone. "Marty" exemplifies excellent performances by all. Nicely filmed on location in the Bronx, it was shot on a low budget ($343,000) that yielded high quality results and a hefty balance sheet ($3,000,000 in US revenues). This likable film won four Oscars, including Best Picture and also Best Actor for Ernest Borgnine. Overseas in Cannes it won the Golden Palm (Palme d'Or). In 1994, "Marty" was selected for permanent preservation in the National Film Registry.