Dreadfully Boring

Am I Missing Something?

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

In the opening scene you see a woman from a lower-class New York neighborhood chiding Marty Piletti continually: "Whatsa matter with you? Whatsa matter with you? Whatsa matter with you?" This is the theme of the movie – why isn't Marty married? Why isn't he loved? Why doesn't he fit in with the rest of society? Marty's social scene is his group of male friends who also can't get dates but are full of excuses about it, but he mainly hangs with his best friend Angie. Marty is filled with a lot of self-doubt, and is socially awkward. In one scene, Marty gets up the courage to call Mary Feeney after Angie convinces Marty that she likes him. He stumbles over his words: "I wonder if you might recall me?" Needless to say Mary does not recall him, nor does she want to go on a date with him.You can almost physically feel Marty's pain as he strikes out in life. The lines are good, and Borgnine delivers them so that they hit your heart. "There comes a point in a man's life when he's gotta face some facts. And one fact that I gotta face is that whatever it is that women like, I haven't got!" In contrast, you see married couples having their own sets of problems, Marty's cousins Virginia and Tommy in particular, showing that the grass on the other side is not always greener. They have a new baby and Tommy's mother is interfering. To be fair, Tommy pushed his mom towards selling the house she had lived in for a lifetime and moving in with the new couple.Marty finally sees light at the end of the tunnel when he meets Claire, a sweetly attractive girl who is dumped by her obnoxious blind date for not being "hot" enough. Two social rejects coming together and falling in love is seemingly a stale concept, but the script is fantastic. As they are dancing, Marty gives some insight into his character: "You don't get to be good-hearted by accident. You get kicked around long enough, you get to be a real professor of pain." Marty's mother, who was so anxious for Marty to get a girl, changes her mind when her sister moves from Tommy's couch to her couch, warning her that someday she'll be abandoned too. Angie doesn't like Marty's new girl because he is jealous of the way she monopolizes Marty's time. Marty is again filled with self-doubt and does not show up for his date with Clara, until he finally gets smart and realizes that he wants to rise above it all and pursue happiness.There was one thread running through the movie that I thought was interesting. The characters say one thing and feel one way early on, then change their minds later. Marty's mother encourages him to get married, then later tries to break up his new relationship with his girlfriend. Marty's cousin Tommy encourages Marty to buy the butcher shop, then later tells him he is foolish. Tommy is in agreement with his wife that his mother should live elsewhere, then turns on Virginia when his mother starts to cry. There are other such "switches" that happen throughout.Oh, keep an eye out and you might catch a glimpse of Jerry Ohrbach as a barely out his teens extra out on the dance floor.

Ernest Borgnine is probably most remember for playing opposite Tim Conway on "McHale's Navy." He has played many quirky characters, sometimes real villains. But his roots go back to this film, where he won an Academy Award. He plays a quiet, middle aged butcher who lives with his mother. When he's not working, he spends his time with a bunch of other guys. They are nice people, but they have little ambition. They are just marking time, with little in the offing. They talk and talk and talk. They have great moments of indecisiveness where they can't even figure out what to do. One night, Marty (Borgnine) is at a dance and talks to a rather homely girl who has been jilted by her blind date. They have a nice talk and he finds he likes her. His mother, of course, thinks little of her (the reason being that her "little boy" may want to leave her alone). Marty's friends get into the act, referring to her as a dog. He is getting pressured from all around. No spoilers. Just a recommendation that you watch this movie in some quiet time and watch a masterful, underplayed, human drama.

Very good movie first time I have ever seen at I like how throughout the whole movie everyone is telling Marty he needs to get married and have a girlfriend and get a life and the time he actually goes out and does this everyone seems to turn on him and tell him she is no good the reasons she's no good is for petty differences of opinions from other people and this is why these people look down on her perfume she is not good for Marty it's good to see how somebody could get over their fear whatever it may be in learn or bring out the tools they need to achieve what they want to and not be scared about what the outcome maybe very good movie definitely worth watching for the first time

Mart is an alright movie, it certainly wasn't great. Occasionally, it seemed that a character would be blurred out a opposed to other characters in the shot who ere relatively clearer to the audience. The movie also didn't really hold onto my attention. I found my mind wondering from time to time. It as just another romantic movie to me. To me, the story and characters were boring and kind of repetitive. Other than these things, the movie was relatively decent. I liked the character of Marty if nothing else. He brought some humor into an otherwise bland situation. Also, I kind of like the ironic ending of the film.