Apparently, This Movie Is 'Dated'

I have seen the movie and loved it. Borgnine's and Blair's performances were excellent. Now to this dated criticism. There is always some moron who criticizes a movie that is "old" for being dated. So what do you expect from a movie from the 1950's? Do you expect the characters to be talking on their "cellphones", using their personal computers and hanging out at Starbucks?
I guess the movie is dated because the character is not driving a Toyota Prius hybrid car. They are driving those monster American cars with tailfins. Some people are just dumb.

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Well, here's an interesting thread. Post that you merely heard someone say they didn't like this movie-- sacrilege!--and invite everyone to heap abuse on her when she isn't here to defend herself. Just as well, because on IMDB people get really nasty when anyone says anything remotely bad about their pet film.
I liked it overall, and can adjust for the fact that it was made in a different era, but I'd agree, it is kind of dated. It toes a fine line between corn and grit, and plunges head first into the corn at the end with that godawful "Hey Marty" theme song. And maybe an ideal date in the 50's was for the girl to sit there smiling demurely while the guy gabs about himself for three hours, but that wouldn't wash today.
The film's attitude towards its two main characters is, how do I best say this, condescending. We're invited to see them as sad and pathetic and cheer them on like they're deformed kids and we're their parents.
"You're not such a dog as you think you are," Marty tells Clara. That line should get you smacked in the gob in any era, but she finds it charming. The movie cheats here because Clara isn't a dog at all (she was Gene Kelly's wife at the time). Nothing wrong with Marty either, though the joke "God gave us eyes to see with and the devil gave us Ernest Borgnine to look at" became truer as he got older. Marty and Clara's only problem is that they're socially awkward. Everyone is some time. You'd think, being a high school teacher, she'd be at least a little bit of a tough broad. Yet when they start talking about how much they cry, the movie could be titled "Whiners in Love."
Marty and Clara are all sweetness and kindness. The movie doesn't dare allow either of them to show their dark side, at least intentionally. He's so obtuse it doesn't occur to him she might be creeped out by the fact that he's lured her to his house and hullo, mother isn't home; suddenly he's putting the moves on her and it's their first date, fer god's sake. When she refuses his kiss, he blows up and start yelling. She should take that as red flag. Behavior like that is a bit worrisome for a guy who spends eight hours a day wielding a meat cleaver.

In the age of "Facebook" it is easier to be more discrete about meeting someone. I didn't need anyone's approval when I first met my wife, and we had many dates before I introduced her to anyone. Although there are risks with doing finances on-line, the internet is a pretty safe way to keep your social life a little more private. Had they been able to go out on a few more dates, the opinions of Marty's friends would have seemed even more irrelevant.

Give me dated movies anytime! I prefer old movies to today's so-called movies.

What's wrong with saying a movie is dated? That's not an insult. That just means there is a lot in that movie that is from a specific era. Almost every movie that isn't from now is dated. I liked it (which is why I'm here), but there were still some things in the movie that were old for lack of a better term.

I found myself saying "yes!" to so many comments on this board. If Marty is "dated" we need more movies like it!

I'm 43 but first saw and loved Marty in my teens. I love all kinds of movies (including action). But I've grown increasingly disengaged with the drek that is being churned out each year. Special effects and explosions are entertaining filler in an otherwise boring waste of money - if there isn't a story to grab me, or characters I care about. Recent film plots seem to exist just to tie together explosions, melodrama, and/or shock value (mostly shock, not much value). And I can't remember the last time I cared about the characters in any recent films.

Marty is timeless because it's themes are timeless. I wish modern filmmakers would stop with all the cinematic "junk food" and return to the basics that count.

I'm 35 and I think that the movie is great! :)

yeah it's dated. It's dated 1955. People didn't own cell phones and computers back then.

Jim Hutton as Ellery Queen - totally hot!