Good, but....actually somewhat overrated

Rating: 6/10 (27 June 2012)

It is hard to go to see Annie Hall without unrealistically high expectations given the extravagant praise lavished on the movie by so many people. I tried my best to stay neutral going into the experience -- my second viewing of it 35 years after my first -- but even with my restrained hopes I was somewhat disappointed with this film. Part of it is that the "Woody Allen neurotic Jewish character" is really quite tired for me. There are some scenes where Allen's nerdy, awkward, overly analytical and hypercritical schtick is quite funny (mainly the scenes in which he is pitted against spiders and their distant relatives, lobsters) but much of the time he is merely tolerable. I'm sure many people would disagree with my viewpoint, but for some of us Woody Allen is not the living end. If that makes us Philistines, then perhaps we can be cast in a future remake of Annie Hall and a 40ish actor playing Woody Allen can pull the real, now-quite-elderly Woody Allen from behind a potted palm tree to tell us how stupid we are for not adoring Woody Allen.
The real reason to see this movie is Diane Keaton's performance. She is quite gifted at capturing a more genuine, goofy kind of awkwardness that is funny and endearing at once. She inhabits her character beautifully and richly deserved the Oscar she won for this portrayal.
I also enjoyed the brief scene played by Christopher Walken. He has his own schtick -- playing weirdoes -- but weirdoes is a schtick I can swallow better than neurotic Brooklynites. Here Walken looks unbelievably young and, dare I say, very attractive with his immense forehead in full bloom. It's too bad he isn't given more screen time in this movie.