"Annie Hall" is a very good comedy about relationships, from a realistic rather than romantic viewpoint. The film has many quirky and original comic techniques, all of which work. While not Allen's best film ("Manhattan" is even better), its strict focus on relationships, its accessibility, and its originality make it his most popular.
Allen plays his usual character. He is a New Yorker, Jewish, liberal, intellectual, talkative, slightly neurotic, and involved in relationships. Carol Kane and Shelly Duvall appear briefly as love interests, but his primary target is Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). Keaton is endearing as a goofy hedonist and whispering supperclub singer.
Their romance is doomed by disparate interests.
Allen wants Keaton mostly for himself, while she
has a need for new experiences and new
friendships. Tony Roberts plays Allen's sarcastic
friend, while Paul Simon has a small role as a
music producer. Christopher Walken appears
briefly as Keaton's spooky brother. The film's
enduring popularity is due to the clever and
witty script. "Annie Hall" is funny, regardless
of the audience's demographic. Keaton is also
very likable, much more so than Mia Farrow would
be in later Allen-directed films. "Annie Hall"
is not an outstanding film, however. Early scenes
take potshots at the working class, mocking the
future careers of his grade school classmates,
then making buffoons of blue collar types who
recognize Allen as a celebrity. Later and more
successful scenes belittle pseudo-intellectuals
and Hollywood dealmakers. Still, the film's point
seems to be that in the end, we are all selfish
and shallow. Allen may be correct in this, but
Keaton's free-style Annie belies his own
conclusion.
"Annie Hall" focuses on Allen and not the title
character. While this is natural, it seems to be
asking the audience to take his side. It does
help that Allen is very funny, and Allen-the-actor
is given great lines by Allen-the-writer.
Allen gets away with risky, inventive techniques.
In a flashback as a kid, Allen appears by the
teacher's side, and takes a poll of his
classmates' future occupations. He becomes an
animated character to explore his relationship
with the Wicked Queen in "Snow White". He asks a
handsome, happy couple how they manage to stay
together, and their remarkable reply is that they
are shallow. During an early conversation between
Allen and Keaton, subtitles show what the
characters are thinking about while one
desperately tries to present a appealing image to
the other. Allen frequently talks to the camera.
Keaton has an out-of-body experience while making
love with Allen. Keaton and Roberts play Ghost of
Christmas Past, appearing with Allen in one of
his childhood flashbacks. What is surprising is
that these various gags work, adding originality
to what could otherwise have been an entertaining
but conventional film about a romance.
1977 was the year of the science fiction
blockbusters "Star Wars" and "Close Encounters of
the Third Kind". Despite this, "Annie Hall" won
Best Picture and Best Director (Allen), while
Keaton won Best Actress. Allen (along with
Marshall Brickman) also took the Oscar for Best
Original Screenplay, while Allen was nominated
for Best Actor. (77/100)
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