Annie Hall

Date watched 5th March 2011
Genre- Comedy, Drama, Romance
Year- 1977
Running Time- 1hr 29mins
Directed By- Woody Allen
Written By- Woody Allen & Marshall Brickman
Actors- Woody Allen, Diane Keaton et al.
Acting-4/5
Keeping my attention- 2/4
Visuals/Direction- 4/5
Story/Plot- 5 ½ /6
Total 15 ½ /20

Plot

The movie plots the ups and downs of the lives and troubled romance of Alvy Singer (Allen) and Annie Hall (Keaton).

My Personal Views

Well this is the first time I have ever seen Annie Hall (gasps).
I hadn’t even heard of it until I went to university. In my first year I lived with a performing arts student and she was mad for this movie. Her dad gave her a copy on DVD for her 21st birthday and she was so excited when she came back to our dingy flat after she had been given it. I never took her up on her offer to borrow it because back then I either had my head in the clouds or locking myself away emerging only to go to the bathroom or eat. Trust me I’m better adjusted now.

This movie is so funny in places and the fantasy moments are truly a touch of genius. It’s not every movie where you actually get to know the most intimate feelings of the main character, though sometimes they can be quite surreal.

I have to say though I did get lost sometimes but it was quite easy to get back into once you got the gist of it. Some of the flashback moments I think were where I got lost because I couldn’t figure out where in Alvy and Annie’s relationship these events were taking place. I think maybe I’m just not intelligent enough to understand this entire movie. But then that might just be the case with all of Woody Allen’s movies because I was more than lost when I watched Match Point several years ago.

In all a enjoyable yet confusing watch.

The acting is great and you believe the connection between the main characters, and the arguments. The slightly eerie/psychotic/weird performance by Christopher Walken (as Annie’s brother) pretty much sums up his career for the past 30 or so years from everything else I’ve seen him in but adds a touch of scary comedy here.

Watch out for Jeff Goodblum in a very early cameo role! Or maybe I am the only one who would go “ooh ooh it’s Jeff Goldblum”, but I am of the Jurrasic Park generation, we’re easily excited!

So in all, well directed, well acted and a good premise which is mainly well executed, the only things that really let it down was me not being intelligent enough to keep up with it all the time.

Outcome

I really don’t know, yes I enjoyed it, I’m glad I can now say I’ve watched it but I don’t know if I would be clambering over hot coals to watch it again in a hurry. I bought this as part of a box set of Woody Allen movies so maybe I will hold off judgement until I’ve seen everything else in the set.

But remember this is only my opinion, I’m sure everyone out there will have a different one.