Brilliant Film

Rating: 9/10 (27 April 2006)

Written, directed, and starring Woody Allen, Annie Hall is a hysterical movie about a relationship that was never really meant to be. Allen plays a memorable role as the Jewish comedian Alvy Singer, who is unlucky in love and completely neurotic about the rest of his life. He falls for a beautiful young girl named Annie, played by Diane Keaton, but the relationship falls apart. Alvy takes the viewer back through time, to his relationship with her, his childhood, and his other romances, showing the viewer the wild and funny ride that has been his life.
The films flies in a variety of directions, flashing back at odd times, and the chronology of events is sometimes hard to follow. Basically, Alvy is from Brooklyn, a young Jewish boy who grew up with a pessimistic view on most aspects of life. Because of his interesting upbringing, his Jewish heritage, and his short, wiry frame, he grows up to be a successful comedian. He is married two times, both unsuccessful, and during a tennis match with his tall, bearded friend Rob (played by Tony Roberts), he meets the long-legged Annie. She gives him a ride home, and although he is terrified of her driving skills (or lack thereof) they are attracted to each other and develop a relationship.
Allen shows us bits and pieces of the relationship; high times, low times, and everything in between. Allen shows us a silly scene of the two of them trying to boil lobsters, and having some trouble since both of them are somewhat afraid of touching them. When one lobster gets stuck behind the refrigerator, Alvy tells Annie "maybe if I put a little dish of butter sauce here with a nutcracker, it will run out the other side." Another scene, after the two have taken a break, is when Annie calls Alvy over to kill a spider in her bathroom. This scene shows both character's fragility, and how much they still rely on each other.
However, in the end, Alvy and Annie's relationship can never work out. Alvy is too stuck on New York, and Annie wants out, wants to try new things and move around. Alvy tries proposing to her, flies out to California to see her after she moves there. But it never works out. Alvy is eventually arrested for tearing up his driver's license when it is requested by a policeman (he tell the cop he has a "problem with authority"), and goes back to New York, trying to forget about Annie.
Many people wonder what this film is about. Because it is so disjointed, and seems like more of a 90 minute joke than a movie, people have trouble finding a point to it. However, Allen seems to tell us something pretty valuable about life, and the human experience. Relationships are a part of life. They're funny, and heartbreaking, and terrible and wonderful. At the end of the film, Allen speaks to the audience, and tells us another bad joke about a man thinking he's a chicken and somebody keeping him around for the eggs. He says this joke is a lot like relationships. He says "they're totally irrational, and crazy, and absurd but, uh, I guess we keep going' through it because, uh, most of us... need the eggs." Despite how crazy and weird relationships are, and although they don't always last, humans need them to experience life. I think Allen portrays the idea of relationships perfectly in Annie Hall. However, he uses comedy to disguise the importance of this film. Despite this, it is still powerful, enjoyable, and certainly deserving of its various awards.