A witty, well written, classic rom-com

Rating: 9/10 (9 June 2013)

Woody Allen is one of the most renounced comedy and romance directors around and iconised my many. His heyday was in the late 70s to the mid-80s and Annie Hall is often considered one of his best films.
Alvy Singer (Allen) is a neurotic, paranoid, pessimistic, left comedian in New York City, with a thing for intelligentialism and lives a life of romantic self-sabotage and the film follows his relationship with singer Annie Hall (Diane Keaton), from the start to the end.
Annie Hall is a dialogue driven comedy with a surreal edge to it with the ways it breaks the forth wall. Annie Hall is constantly witty with the jokes and dialogue exchanges between characters as it somehow finds the right balance between naturalism and comic thanks to the strength to the acting to making the writing as believable as possible.
Allen uses a simple direction style, using as few cuts as possible and many scenes were played out in long takes. It is effective for letting the comedy and dialogue play out because the actors could interact without breaks or disruptions. It made the performances more organic. But Allen does bring in some directional flourishes with the way characters appear in flashbacks and how a couple of times how to scenes play out at the same time in a split screen. Annie Hall is a film that has been referred a number of times in numerous TV shows such as The Simpsons and Family Guy and for good reason.
Annie Hall is made out to be a charming woman whom Keaton plays with ease. It is easy to see the appeal of this woman to men. But Alvy comes off being very selfish and self-centred despite his neurotises. He is really more concerned about himself and what Annie was able to bring to him. Annie was felt compelled to stay with Alvy.
As well as the theme of romance, relationships and love Allen does also introduces themes about culture, both low end and high end. Allen is critical of both, with how Hollywood functions and the lifestyle, particularly how TV shows manipulate audiences in a very unsubtle jab against the industry. He also takes on takes up the pretentiousness of pseudo-intelligentialism showcased by some of Alvy's set and he looks down on it, yet he is also a part of this set with his ability to over thing.
Annie Hall is a funny film that blends a natural, grounded situation that many people can relate to whilst telling it an unconventional way with its fourth wall breaking style and elements of insight into various characters minds in many different ways. It is a fine example of an excellently written script whilst telling a simple story. This is Woody Allen at his best.