Amazing film, worth at least 3 or 4 views.

Rating: 10/10 (30 April 2016)

Believe it or not, I had never watched a Woody Allen film before this. I'm not much of a film buff, as you can imagine. Now, I'll definitely find more of his work.
That major caveat aside, I absolutely loved this movie.
PLOT AND CHARACTERS
The characters were very, very nicely fleshed out- we explore their lives in the present, as well as their childhoods and families, and their motivations and thoughts are nicely exposed to us keeping in line with the psychoanalysis theme (one of the major themes of the movie). What that ends up meaning is that we see their relationship evolving naturally every step of the way. It never feels odd or out of place. We actually buy that these two end up together and, at the end, it makes total sense for them to separate.
Alvy is a neurotic, quick-witted, funny, obsessive-compulsive, incredibly pessimistic Jewish man approaching his 40s who dreams of becoming a famous comedian and writer/playwright, and Annie is a free-spirited, open-minded, more optimistic, small-town girl in New York City who has hopes of becoming a singer. The beautiful thing, is they're both complete oddballs. They don't fit in anywhere. And that's why we buy their relationship. When she makes a royal screw-up of herself at their very first meeting ("do you need a lift?"), for instance, we are forced to contrast her with Alvy's ex-wife, who hung out with the most pompous of intellectuals only and made HIM feel like the screw-up. Annie, we understand, is the opposite of that. She chooses, at every turn to experience life, to wear the ties and huff the blow. He also encourages this, just as much as she encourages him. She laughs at all his jokes and he finds her initial fumbling genuinely charming.
We also understand on both parts, why it doesn't work out. The dark cloud of pessimism that we practically see hang over him, his obsession with timeliness and detecting antisemitism, his paranoia about her teachers, the fact that he makes her feel unintelligent... All of these sour him for her. As for him, her need for socializing ends up being too much, as do her habit of smoking marijuana before sex, her emotional detachment and later liberation, and her openness to new experiences like rock concerts and right-wing magazines.
It seemed to me a sad ending, but one that makes sense. He tries to get back with her, and we know that he doesn't fit with anyone else he dates, but he's spent the whole movie sabotaging himself (believing it would never work out with someone who would want to date him in the first place), so his pessimism ends up being the downfall of the relationship in the end. Even if he fantasizes about it working out. The reason he keeps trying, though, even after it's over, is that of every person who keeps trying at their relationships: he needs the eggs.
GENERAL REVIEW
Both Woody Allen and Diane Keaton turn in wonderful performances here. Woody's comic timing and delivery is impeccable. He's so good at portraying the neurotic, obsessive facet of Alvy, I swear I had an ulcer by the time Alvy and Annie break up for good. Diane is his perfect match, of course. Amazing how she plays almost the complete opposite - relaxed, free-spirited, open to the big wide world - and yet has perfect chemistry with him. I like the way the film played with time and how there were abrupt cuts from scene to scene sometimes and lots of breaking of the fourth wall. It's a non-linear love story, and playing with time like this is crucial to the film, I think, because that's not only why we get to know the characters so well (we get to see their past and in-between romances, their childhoods and families), but why we understand that 1) they don't fit with anyone else and 2) they fit so well with each other. As a final note, I found the script to be fantastic. Full of great banter, humor, wit, and ideas (all well-delivered, of course). I adored that it doesn't stay away from, say, drugs and sex, but I also liked that the script doesn't try to exaggerate or find any shock humour with them. All the jokes are mostly understated even when they're raunchy (like the cunnilingus joke), and I like that. Sex and drugs to me are not taboo or shock subjects, and in this movie they genuinely don't feel like they are. Just a normal part of human life.
CONCLUSION
This film offers a good-humored, fairly pessimistic view on relationships. It's a funny, well-acted, witty view into romance that is utterly unique and I recommend it to everyone and everyone.