anti-semitism, Freud, direct camera scenes etc.. different but not great

Rating: Null/10 (6 November 2005)

I am not surprised to learn that Marshall Brickman--the co-writer of the script suggested the title "It Had to Be Jew" to the movie. I found Allen's anti-semitism references obsessive and unnecessary. It is not just that anti-semitism references.If you do not know much about Freud the comedy may not make much sense for you. You should know something about the concepts like "latency period", "penis envy", "polymorphously perverse" etc... When you try to create a comedy about love I guess you do not have to make pointed references to sex all the time either.
I sort of liked the techniques used in the film but they don't necessarily make sense. For instance, Allen's character, standing in a cinema queue with Annie Hall and listening to someone behind leaves the line to speak to the camera directly. The man comes to speak to the camera in his defense, and Alvy Singer/Woody Allen resolves the dispute by pulling McLuhan himself from behind a counter to tell the man that his interpretation is wrong.In another scene also when Allen is at a dinner with the family of Annie Hall he just starts talking about the family to the camera directly...ALL IN ALL I SORT OF LIKED BUT IT IS NOt A GREATEST MOVIE AT ALL...