I have a confession to make.

Until now, I've never seen a Woody Allen movie.

Boy, I sure was a "miss out".

Annie Hall, made in 1977, is a classic. Why, oh why, did I wait so long?

First of all it's a story, and a very funny story at that, about a New York Jewish comedian, played by Woody Allen and his WASP girlfriend, played by Diane Keaton. It pokes fun at many social mores that we take for granted and I found myself laughing throughout. There's the New Yorker who never learns to drive, the mid-westerner who orders a pastrami sandwich on white bread with mayonnaise (which seems almost grotesque to a New Yorker like me), the pretentious movie critic, the neuroses of modern romances, and the differences between the New York and Los Angeles way of life.

The film runs along at such a fast pace that there is almost no time at all between funny moments. And, to make it even better, there are some wonderful film techniques. For example, while Diane Keaton and Woody Allen are talking about photography, there are subtitles on the screen about the physical relationship that they are really thinking about.

If the film were made today the phone calls would have been made on cell phones. But surprisingly, that is the only detail that might be changed. Annie Hall has really truly stood the test of time. And I loved it.

*Annie Hall* is a movie that a critic could love. Its hero, Alvy Singer (Allen), though apparently a professional comedian, is really more of a 24-hour, 7-days-a-week critic of everything he encounters: the Seventies drug culture, pretentious loudmouths, Los Angeles, WASPs from the Midwest, anti-Semites, Bob Dylan, aging hippies, and -- most important for getting on film critics' good side -- himself. (The constant cinematic references, such as *Snow White*, Fellini, Bergman, *The Sorrow and the Pity*, et al., also endear Allen to the critics . . . and to the overall movie-lover, as well.) In and around all this, the film tells the story of a mismatched relationship between neurotic, intellectual New Yorker Alvy and Wisconsin transplant Annie Hall (Diane Keaton, in an excellent performance). The details of the relationship are delineated with aching realism: the tentative getting-to-know-you stage, the petulant break-ups, the warm making-ups, the mundanities (like getting rid of spiders in bathtubs), the arguments, the hilarious private moments that can't be repeated with anyone else (like their attempt to cook some lobsters), the boredom, and finally the wearing-out of the whole thing. This is all superbly done . . . but even better are Allen's incessant, razor-sharp wisecracks that put the America of 1977 firmly in its self-obsessed place. For instance, his take on the Studio 54 culture that was happening in New York is summed up in a sneeze . . . that blows thousands of dollars of cocaine airily away. The West Coast nonsense is perhaps best captured in the snapshot scene of Jeff Goldblum on the phone: "I forgot my mantra." And Allen's jokes about turning right at a red light in California, and masturbation being sex with someone he loves, have permanently entered our language.Read more ›

`Annie Hall', directed by Woody Allen and written by Allen and Marshall Brickman is eminently rewatchable, which is the one quality that makes it an excellent DVD purchase. I have seen this movie at least a half dozen times, and I am still discovering interesting things in the film. What makes this so odd to me is that the first time I saw it, after having seen `Manhattan', I really did not think it was as good as the later film.

My initially low opinion of the movie was primarily due to the numerous cinematic gimmicks harking back to his earlier, plainly less thoughtful movies. These include flashbacks to dopey teachers and classmates, almost as a parody of Jean Shepherd; subtitles showing what the characters are really thinking of one another during a conversation; a cartoon segment where Allen and the Tony Roberts character appear with the wicked witch from Snow White; speeches to the audience; and the most famous, a surprise appearance by Marshall McCluhan in a movie theatre lobby to refute a college instructor pontificating about McCluhan's ideas.

The single most famous scene from the movie is the encounter between Allen's character, Alvy Singer and Annie Hall, played brilliantly by Diane Keaton, after their tennis match with Annie dressed in her classic layered look with vest, men's tie, and balloonish trousers. The great sound bite from this encounter is the Annie Hall exclamation `La Di Dah, La Di Dah, Dah Dah...' and Singer's reaction wondering how he could be interested in anyone making such silly exclamations. From this one scene came a whole late 1970's fashion trend, the `Annie Hall' look of layered, mannish clothes.Read more ›

'Annie Hall' has been called the first modern romantic comedy, but it is actually the ultimate anti-romantic comedy. Where the movement of the classic rom-com is the union of two mismatched lovers, the kiss, marriage - a forward movement which is' in effect' sexual sublimation - 'Annie Hall' begins with its romance's break-up, and proceeds with a vignette narrative structure, in which time and space are fragmented: far from gathering any momentum, the film, with is modest highs and lows, kind of peters out, just like romance in real-life.
'Annie Hall' is, as everyone knows, the first truly great Woody Allen movie. All the cherishable elements from his previous films are here - the nervy wisecracks (which, far from containing life's anguish, seem to helplessly acknowledge the impossibility of ever doing so); the visual and narrative trickery; the flippant allusions etc. - but are given depth and feeling by the focus on character. The opening monologue sets the tone - Alvy's stand-up routine (an address to the public) as confession (private): this is a relationship constantly being pushed into social situations (family, parties, night classes etc.).
The movements through time and space, the documentary feel for real locations, the recognition of the emotional import of seemingly trivial events, all combine to create a complex picture of people alive and in love in a particular place and time. In the case of Alvy especially, these elements serve to reveal the character his joking is at pains to deflect.Read more ›