Annie Hall (1977)

This is a great movie, one of Woody Allen's best done at a time when he had really found his voice. It stars Woody and his then-partner Diane Keaton, making it pre- Mia Farrow so there's no need to get into any of the thorny issues arising from that relationship. Also it was made in an era when Woody could still play the heroes of his movies before he started casting stand-ins like Owen Wilson and John Cusack. Both perfectly good performers but not better at being Woody, than Woody.

Synopsis:

Woodie begins the movie with two jokes one of which about not wanting to be a part of a group that would have him as a member he says sums up the problems he's had with women. Then he tells us that he and Annie have broken up, which he can't believe. The rest of the movie we see his relationship with Annie in flashbacks - out of order glimpses of times in their relationship in an effort to see what went wrong. We don't just look at the time he was in the relationship, we look at Woddy's childhood, we get a glimpse of Annie's when they go to her family's Midwestern home. we even see part of his relationships before he met Annie to see how they colors the later relationship. There are wonderful moments and painful moments and through it all we get a really good picture of the relationship.

Review:

Because he has been so prolific, chances are you have seen at least one Woody Allen movie by now. However, if you have not seen this movie you really haven't seen the best Woody Allen film. It won the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay. That is an unheard of number of awards for a comedy. Comedies are notoriously overlooked at award time - not given the respect of hard core dramas, and even though this counts as part drama, part comedy it still was an amazing feat to win those awards. This is one of Woody's best scripts and that is saying something because no matter what one might think of him - the man can write ..... and direct. The performance of Diane Keaton is brilliant and charming. Not for nothing was her quirky clothing style from the movie copied by every woman in America that year. The clothes became a phenomenon because her performance was phenomenal. The supporting players are also excellent, including Carol Kane as the old girlfriend, Tony Roberts, a Woody Allen regular for years as Woody's best friend, Shelley Duvall, Colleen Dewhurst, and even Christopher Walken in a small but HILARIOUS part. The most notable supporting cast member is Paul Simon - the Paul Simon the songwriter - that alone makes it worth seeing. I promise that this is the quintessential Woody Allen movie, so if you see it and you don't like it you have an excuse not to see any others.