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#73 - Annie Hall
Woody Allen, 1977
The story of a neurotic comedian and his on-and-off relationship with the titular character.
This film already comes with some serious baggage - being a Best Picture winner, the fact that I've already seen it once and thought it was merely alright but not as great as I'd been led to believe, and then there were the recent allegations of child abuse against him. The latter makes Allen's quip about politicians having less ethics than child molesters really stick out like one very sore and infected thumb. Even if I were going to try to separate the art from the artist (and, when the movie involves Allen playing a main character that's really similar to himself, that's going to be a little difficult) the fact of the matter is that I actually don't like Annie Hall, so of course I'm going to have to try and defend my opinion here.
I concede that it's got some pretty inventive ideas - the film takes some surreal detours involving animated sequences, breaking the fourth wall, present-day versions of characters walking through their own flashbacks, bringing in actual celebrities to criticise people talking about them and so forth. That only draws attention to the fact that the plot at the centre of the film is rather weak. Even without knowing that the romance between Alvy and Annie was originally supposed to be a sub-plot in an epic murder mystery, the whole thing feels sort of empty. Maybe this got some praise for being a modern take on old screwball comedies, but here the whole thing feels just as inconsequential as any of Alvy's breaks from reality. I don't see much reason to even care about these characters, whether they're sticking together or breaking up or whatever. Alvy is a rare example of a constantly snarking character who I actually don't find remotely charming, no matter how many one-liners he fires off - his nervous disposition isn't endearing in the slightest. I do wonder how much of Annie's characterisation can be explained away by the idea that Alvy is an unreliable narrator who does seem like the kind of guy who would embellish certain facts, but I'm not sure what's Oscar-worthy about it. Keaton is a good actress, but this character...not so much. Singing torch songs and being able to keep up with Allen's rapid-fire delivery are alright achievements, but that doesn't feel all that impressive. The rest of the cast is a peppering of odd-ball characters that do stick out but don't provide much of a contribution.
Problem is, the jokes don't work for me. I'd say that the best joke in the film comes from Christopher Walken (in a small role as Annie's brother) telling Alvy about his car-crashing fantasies, but for the most part it's all really flat. It's Allen's film, of course, so a lot of the film is him offering endless comments about every-frickin'-thing, and that can (and does) get tiresome. There's a good barb here or there but most of them don't work. Aside from Walken (and, occasionally, Alvy's best friend) he doesn't get much weirdness to react disdainfully towards. The film clocks in at about ninety minutes and even then it doesn't so much end as fizzle out, though it's not like I was even hoping for a happy ending or anything for these people. Ultimately, whatever charm that Annie Hall has doesn't have any effect on me. The humour's been done better before and since, so I credit it with being influential, but beyond that I don't credit it much at all.
Woody Allen, 1977
The story of a neurotic comedian and his on-and-off relationship with the titular character.
This film already comes with some serious baggage - being a Best Picture winner, the fact that I've already seen it once and thought it was merely alright but not as great as I'd been led to believe, and then there were the recent allegations of child abuse against him. The latter makes Allen's quip about politicians having less ethics than child molesters really stick out like one very sore and infected thumb. Even if I were going to try to separate the art from the artist (and, when the movie involves Allen playing a main character that's really similar to himself, that's going to be a little difficult) the fact of the matter is that I actually don't like Annie Hall, so of course I'm going to have to try and defend my opinion here.
I concede that it's got some pretty inventive ideas - the film takes some surreal detours involving animated sequences, breaking the fourth wall, present-day versions of characters walking through their own flashbacks, bringing in actual celebrities to criticise people talking about them and so forth. That only draws attention to the fact that the plot at the centre of the film is rather weak. Even without knowing that the romance between Alvy and Annie was originally supposed to be a sub-plot in an epic murder mystery, the whole thing feels sort of empty. Maybe this got some praise for being a modern take on old screwball comedies, but here the whole thing feels just as inconsequential as any of Alvy's breaks from reality. I don't see much reason to even care about these characters, whether they're sticking together or breaking up or whatever. Alvy is a rare example of a constantly snarking character who I actually don't find remotely charming, no matter how many one-liners he fires off - his nervous disposition isn't endearing in the slightest. I do wonder how much of Annie's characterisation can be explained away by the idea that Alvy is an unreliable narrator who does seem like the kind of guy who would embellish certain facts, but I'm not sure what's Oscar-worthy about it. Keaton is a good actress, but this character...not so much. Singing torch songs and being able to keep up with Allen's rapid-fire delivery are alright achievements, but that doesn't feel all that impressive. The rest of the cast is a peppering of odd-ball characters that do stick out but don't provide much of a contribution.
Problem is, the jokes don't work for me. I'd say that the best joke in the film comes from Christopher Walken (in a small role as Annie's brother) telling Alvy about his car-crashing fantasies, but for the most part it's all really flat. It's Allen's film, of course, so a lot of the film is him offering endless comments about every-frickin'-thing, and that can (and does) get tiresome. There's a good barb here or there but most of them don't work. Aside from Walken (and, occasionally, Alvy's best friend) he doesn't get much weirdness to react disdainfully towards. The film clocks in at about ninety minutes and even then it doesn't so much end as fizzle out, though it's not like I was even hoping for a happy ending or anything for these people. Ultimately, whatever charm that Annie Hall has doesn't have any effect on me. The humour's been done better before and since, so I credit it with being influential, but beyond that I don't credit it much at all.