1. Issac and Tracy Stay Together At The End of Manhattan
Manhattan is arguably Woody Allen's finest achievement, a magical love letter to his home town of New York, and a movie that perfectly blends the writer's talents for both drama and comedy, complimented by some Gordon Willis' gorgeous cinematography and that unforgettable Gershwin score. And given how consciously romantic Manhattan is from the get-go, it's easy to take its ending scene as a relatively happy one, in which our protagonist manages to win the girl. Having realised that the girl he dumped for another woman is, in fact, the one he actually belongs with, Issac Davies (Allen) arrives just in time to tell Tracy (Mariel Hemingway) his true feelings, and tries to stop her from leaving for London. It's too late, however, but Tracy explains that she'll be back in six months, and that they can rekindle their relationship when she returns. Issac is dubious, of course, until Tracy suddenly deploys that memorable little line: "You have to have a little faith in people." Issac looks unconvinced, and then breaks into a tiny grin as the movie ends. Most people tend to take this as "Oh, he admires Tracy's comment about having faith. He'll wait for her," but the point of this grin (and the point of the ending, in fact) is that Issac suddenly realises that he's the bad guy, and that - all along - Tracy was the most grown-up person in the movie, despite the fact that he spent every waking minute telling her she wasn't mature enough. The grin marks the realisation of her maturity, his own selfishness, and that he has no right to be trying to persuade her to stay. The irony of it all makes him smile. The likelihood is, then, that she will go to London, the pair won't get back together and - most importantly - that's entirely okay.
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