Review of Annie Hall (1977) by Blake P — 12 Sep 2011

I don't know if I've ever been this nervous to see a movie before. "Annie Hall" is usually behind "Citizen Kane" and "Casablanca" as America's top movies, and it won 4 out of the 5 Oscars it was nominated for, beating out "Star Wars" so it's one of those things where you always wonder, "Will I like it?" "If I don't, what's WRONG with me?".

Thank the lord that I loved this even more than "Casablanca"! Sure, "Annie Hall" sounds like a regular old rom-com, but hey, it's Woody Allen. Do you really think any of his films are gonna be ordinary? Heck no.

This film was one of, or maybe even the first of Allen's "art" films, where instead of focusing on being funny and pleasing the audience, he steps broader into the areas that can be critic favorites as well as classics and cinema.

Of course earlier ventures like "Sleeper" and "Love and Death" are hilarious, but there's something so wonderful about "Annie Hall" that it beats the other two in a heartbeat.

Allen, who directed, wrote, and starred in this, does a fascinating experiment, and during the movie he breaks the fourth wall tons of times, something that most filmmakers don't try. Then, to make things even more complicated, half the movie's in flashbacks, from his previous marriage all the way to moments in Alvy and Annie's relationship.

Though it's more of a mess than anything, all the snippets add up to something that makes the film even more awesome. Then of course, we have Keaton's performance, which is just as important as the film itself.

She won the Oscar, starting a fashion trend, and earned a reputation all from this film. The Oscar seems more like a trophy to the American audience then anything, but her performance is so iconic with the man clothes and the "Annie Hall-isms" that over time it seems like she deserves it more (though she should've won for "Reds".

..). OK, I'm gonna start rambling on more and more, so just see "Annie Hall" for yourself and see what I mean. Highly recommended.