Marty (1955)

IMDb plot summary: A middle-aged butcher and a school teacher who have given up on the idea of love meet at a dance and fall for each other.
Directed by Delbert Mann. Starring Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, Esther Minciotti, Joe Mantell, and Augusta Ciolli.

(Mild spoilers.)

Overall, I really liked this movie. I am very drawn to stories about people who are perpetually single because they are just not terribly attractive, as that's how I felt for the majority of my life. The chemistry between Marty and Clara is charming; you can really tell they feel they've found that one person who really "gets" them, and it warmed my heart to see that play out. I think, however, that there were definitely some elements that kept it from fully hitting home for me. For one thing, while obviously the movie is named after Marty, I wish we'd gotten to see a little bit more of Clara's perspective. The scene where she talks to her parents about her date with Marty was really moving for me, but from that point on she's out of the movie almost entirely, despite the fact that a lot of the plot still revolves around her. I also felt like the movie kept lightly hitting on potentially important themes and topics without actually resolving them -- particularly the mother/son relationship angle -- and that left me feeling unsatisfied. I could have used another 10 or so minutes to wrap up a few of these topics. I enjoyed it, but I felt like it was just a scene or two away from me enjoying it much more.

4 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Marty > A Little Night Music
Marty > American Outlaws
Marty < Breakfast at Tiffany's
Marty < Nightcrawler
Marty < The Sessions
Marty > Zodiac
Marty > Flushed Away
Marty < Mad Max: Fury Road
Marty > Bandits
Marty < Notting Hill (although this was a very close one)

Final spot: #550 out of 2453.