Annie Hall 5/5
Dir. Woody Allen
Written Woody Allen/ Marshall Brickman
Principal Cast: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane, Paul Simon, Shelly Duvall,
5/5
Writing in 2002 Roger Ebert claimed that, "Annie Hall contains more intellectual wit and cultural references than any other movie ever to win the best picture Oscar. To show how much things have changed since 1977 many might be surprised that the film it edged out to win the Oscar was Star Wars. I could not see that happening today. Annie hall grossed about 40 million dollars which is less than the budget for many of the "blockbusters" of today.
This film was a watershed moment for Allen. Before then he was principally viewed as a "comedy writer". Annie Hall is a comedy, but is so much more. There are dozens of references to cultural and intellectual trends of the films date. He made popular the Groucho Marx Quote "I would not want to be in a club that would have me as a member". There are references to Marshall McLulan and the films of Fredrico Fellini to name but two.
Alvy Singer follows Allen's Jewish Male neurotic template for his main characters both before and after this film. Keaton also follows a template of many of the love interest in Woody's movies: Pretty,smart, scatterbrained, with genuine affection fading that eventually trails into frustration and exasperation with Woody's characters.
I've mentioned in other reviews that Woody has had his share of genuine inspirations in some of his movies. some of those moments in Annie Hall include a lot of Woody addressing his audience directly through the camera, a sudden departure from the script to quiz local passerby's about his love life. He also interrupts a scene to bring Marshall Mcluhan on screen to directly reply to criticisms from a blowhard pseudo-intellectual pontificating about Fellini's film and McLuhan's book.
One of the funniest scenes involves Woody as a child taking his hostility out in the Bumper card ride and then translating that into a scene where Woody, as an adult, is required to drive in New York without much driving experience. Even if these scenes are derivative of other film makers work, it still comes across fresh for me. Annie Hall is not my favorite Allen film, but there is no denying that it is probably his most successful movies and perhaps his most influential film.