One of the best-remembered films of the '70s

Rating: Null/10 (4 September 2011)

In 1977, everyone was talking about "Annie Hall," Woody Allen's film about a romance gone wrong. There was the "Annie Hall" look, "la-di-da," and TV shows ripped off the lobster scene. Thirty-four years later, "Annie Hall" still holds up as a great Allen film.
Allen breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to the audience. The film is shamelessly biographical - the main character is a neurotic comedian, Alvy Singer, who is well-known. Diane Keaton, for whom the screenplay was written, plays Annie (Keaton's real last name is Hall and people call her Annie). The two meet and make an unlikely couple: she's from the midwest, and he's a native New Yorker and Jewish, growing up under the Coney Island roller-coaster. She's an aspiring singer; he's been in therapy for 15 years. Gradually their differences overwhelm their feelings for one another.
The script is fabulous - witty, hilarious, charming, whimsical, and bittersweet. And the chemistry between Allen and Keaton is wonderful. Both are perfect. Tony Roberts plays a friend of Alvy's, Carol Kane plays Alvy's ex-wife, Allison, Paul Simon is Tony Lacey, and Christopher Walken is Annie's brother. His short role is responsible for one of the most hilarious scenes in the film.
The film has a very modern perspective - relationships are next to impossible but we need them so we keep trying. As Woody says at the beginning of the film: "Life is full of loneliness, and misery, and suffering, and unhappiness, and it's all over much too quickly." We just have to keep slogging through.