Annie Hall (1977)

I’m gonna say something kind of bold right here. Now, I don’t have the experience to back it up like some people do, but I am getting there. I do not think that this is Woody Allen’s best movie. I think that it is an extremely good film, but not his best. I still consider Midnight in Paris as his best, but this comes at a close second. Annie Hall, widely regarded as one of Allen’s best films, is the only Woody Allen film to date that has won the Academy Award for Best Picture. And why is this? Why has only one of Allen’s films been given the award? Personally, he is one of my favorite directors, fifth on my list, right behind Steven Spielberg. It makes me sad. If my memory serves me correctly, a couple of his others have been nominated. But only Annie Hall has won. I think that there should me more. Woody Allen has an extremely child-like and simple way of filmmaking. And I mean that as the biggest compliment possible. What’s great about a young child is that they see the world as great; they see the world non-cynically and true. Allen is the same way. He doesn’t try to make a film that will win awards. He doesn’t try to make a movie that people will like. He just tries to make a film. And that is why he is a brilliant man. This movie, said my many to be his magnum opus, tells the tale of Alvy Singer (played by Woody Allen), one of Manhattan’s funniest comedians. He meets and falls in love with a woman named Annie Hall (Allen’s frequent collaborator Diane Keaton). They have a flawed relationship from the beginning (including a scene that shows what both people are thinking-extremely hilarious), with multiple complications over time. In short, Alvy is madly in love with Annie. The feeling is really not insanely mutual. Well, not to the same degree. The movie is obviously a major inspiration on the brilliant film (500) Days of Summer, which I love very much. On a personal standpoint, I think that Marc Webb’s film is a better film than Woody Allen’s, but that’s basically the same thing as saying that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is not as good as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Which it isn’t. But both these films are great. And all the films here are. Movies don’t beat out Star Wars for no reason. Watch this movie. If you’re a fan of Allen’s brilliant simplistic style of writing and directing, please go watch this movie.
9/10