On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.
First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.
Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.
The Pitch: Fall in Love with Love (and New York City)
You never forget your first crush. Life and love grow so complicated as we get older, but those early butterflies, stolen glances, and fleeting interactions are so easily romanticized in the rearview, relics of a bygone innocence and who we used to be. No matter what follows, the first stirrings of a crush are full of promise and excitement — even if you feel a bit like you’re going to explode.
I was on my second or third crush when I first watched Mark Levin’s “Little Manhattan,” the story of 10-year-old Gabe (Josh Hutcherson) falling in love with classmate Rosemary (Charlie Ray). I was on a plane, in the mood for something light — and I smiled ear-to-ear for the next 90 minutes. Over the course of two-and-a-half weeks, Rosemary and Gabe go from “karate friends” to real friends to something more — something evocative of every magnitude of romantic love a person experiences in a lifetime.
The entire tortuous experience of Gabe’s first love is comically and adorably narrated by Hutcherson, embodying a child but bringing wisdom and weariness beyond his years to the role. Screenwriter Jennifer Flackett’s script deftly switches between innocent, believable conversations between these two literal children — and the terror Gabe feels at liking a girl when the threat of cooties has barely been eradicated from their social circles. The film isn’t afraid to take absurd flights of fancy, like Gabe’s dream of meeting Rosemary on the basketball court or his regular conversations with martial arts star Mike Chaturantabut.
And yes, dear reader, New York City is a character in this movie, and it is glorious. Gabe and Rosemary are city kids roaming their designated corners of the Upper West Side, and the sweet tunes on the soundtrack guide them through Central Park and up the West Side Highway. It’s romanticized, but still a more authentic view of the city than most Hollywood treatments, benefiting from a childish gaze that is simple and wondrous but never disrespected.
I watch “Little Manhattan” every spring, when its version of love and New York feels within reach, but only recently as a spontaneous late-night screening. This movie is perfect for when you crave a rom-com but maybe can’t stomach the full range of adult heartbreak. It’s insightful and optimistic but not saccharine, and though childhood is long gone for many of us, we all remember what it was to be Gabe. —PK
The Aftermath: And Just Like… Is That a Pirate Ship?
Before watching “Little Manhattan,” if you had asked me, “Can a PG-rated kids’ movie work as midnight programming?” — I probably would have said no.
Fringe filmmaking demands taking risks and, like it or not, even the most milquetoast material can be deemed too inappropriate for families by the extra-cautious MPA. That’s a shame, but there’s no real use in fighting it. When it comes to ratings, at least in the United States, the opinion of that system is the only one that matters. (Yes, that was a “Devil Wears Prada” reference. Happy 2000s Week!)
This semi-surreal exploration of some surprisingly adult themes changed my mind about all of that. It also convinced me that “Sex and the City… for Boys!” could work as a Max spinoff… so maybe take my opinion with a grain of salt. Even still, true-blue midnight or not, this hidden gem from 2005 should absolutely be commended for its commitment to taking big swings. It’s not every day audiences are treated to a romantic comedy that opens with projectile vomit (shout out, “Pitch Perfect”), and this is the only one I know of that follows up its gastric uncorking with both bizarre hallucinations and relentless amounts of karate.
A complex portrait of a child’s changing perspective on romance, “Little Manhattan” seems like it would have been outright revolutionary programming for me as a child. Proma’s experience confirms that, and I’d kill to explore the timeline where I saw 10-year-old Josh Hutcherson play a pint-sized leading man in theaters. Even in that alternate reality, I would go with my parents, but oh, how I yearn for the possibility of a “Little Manhattan” date. (As it stands, my first romantic movie-going experience involved a trip to see Harmony Korine’s “Spring Breakers” with a cute boy and his staggering dependence on the word “totally.” I think of him fondly to this day.)
In his own sweet, small way, Gabe Burton is an unprecedented heart-stealer of kids’ cinema — even if his obsessive handwringing does make Harry from “Sex and the City” look only kind of into Charlotte. Shining especially bright in voiceover and making the most of those classic Manhattan street scenes, Hutcherson is doing a little boy’s best impression of Carrie Bradshaw here.
The indelibly lovely Rosemary (the third prettiest in her grade!) is no Mr. Big, but with the late Willie Garson — AKA Stanford Blatch himself — appearing as Gabe’s elevator guy, “Little Manhattan” feels tied to the city’s prestige TV legacy in more ways than one. Maybe “Sex and the City” didn’t have flying ships hovering over Central Park, but “I didn’t take you for a pirate guy…” is something Samantha would definitely have cause to say.
The Cynthia Nixon of it all is an obvious treat. For one thing, we can all agree that this is exactly what it would look like to watch Miranda Hobbes raise Brady over the course of a feature-length film. More importantly, its Gabe’s mom and dad who give this ambitious genre resistor its emotionally consequential center. Divorce is an at least midnight-adjacent subject for plenty of kids, and “Little Manhattan” explores that reality with bravery and care. That last scene — when Gabe briefly sees actors Caitlin McColl and Shane Rhoades standing in as younger versions of Nixon and Bradley Whitford — isn’t just visually touching and dreamy; it’s also narratively challenging for the age group this story was meant to attract.
“Love is an ugly terrible business practiced by fools,” declares Gabe in a concluding monologue that sounds like it was written by a haughtier Charlie Kaufman. “It’ll trample your heart and leave you bleeding on the floor. And what does it get you in the end? Nothing but a few incredible memories you can’t ever shake.”
The movies we see matter just as much as when we see them and, at least in my household, a speech like that is nuanced enough to play pretty damn well after dark. And so, watching “Little Manhattan” from an apartment in Los Angeles… at the end of another long work week at IndieWire in 2024… I couldn’t help but wonder: Is any movie really just for kids? Or is it the midnight genre and its boundary-testing taste that needs to grow up? —AF
Those brave enough to join the fun can stream “Little Manhattan” on Plex — and rent or buy it on VOD. IndieWire After Dark publishes midnight movie recommendations at 11:59 p.m. ET every Friday. Read more of our deranged suggestions…
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