Annie Hall Movie

Annie Hall
Rating:
Run Time: 93 min
MPAA Rating:
Released: 1977
Directors: Woody Allen
Genre/Type: Comedy
Comedy of Manners
Romantic Comedy
Sophisticated Comedy
Urban Comedy
Producers: Charles H. Joffe
Jack Rollins
Plot Synopsis by Lucia Bozzola
Woody Allen's romantic comedy of the Me Decade follows the up and down relationship of two mismatched New York neurotics. Jewish comedy writer Alvy Singer (Allen) ponders the modern quest for love and his past romance with tightly-wound WASP singer Annie Hall (Diane Keaton, née Diane Hall). The twice-divorced Alvy knows that it's not easy to find a mate when the options include pretentious New York intellectuals and lifestyle-obsessed writers, but la-di-dah-ing Annie seems different. Along the rocky road of their coupling, Allen/Alvy weigh in on such topics as endless therapy, movies vs. TV, the absurdity of dating rituals, anti-Semitism, drugs, and, in one of the best set pieces, repressed Midwestern WASP insanity vs. crazy Brooklyn Jewish boisterousness. Annie wants to move to Los Angeles to find that fame that finally does in the relationship -- but not before Alvy gets in a few digs at vacuous, mantra-fixated California. Originally entitled (the inability to enjoy oneself), Annie Hall blended the slapstick and fantasy from such earlier Allen films as Sleeper (1973) and Bananas (1971) with the more autobiographical musings of his stand-up and written comedy, using an array of such movie techniques as talking heads, splitscreens, and subtitles. Within these gleeful formal experiments and sight gags, Allen and co-writer Marshall Brickman skewered 1970s solipsism, reversing the happy marriage of opposites found in classic screwball comedies. Hailed as Allen's most mature and personal film, Annie Hall beat out Star Wars for Best Picture and also won Oscars for Allen as director and writer and for Keaton as Best Actress; audiences enthusiastically responded to Allen's take on contemporary love and turned Keaton's rumpled menswear into a fashion trend.

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The film is set in New York City and Los Angeles. Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) is a neurotic comedian, attempting to maintain a relationship with the seemingly ditzy but exuberant Annie (Diane Keaton). The film chronicles their relationship ...
This is the sort of movie that you hear has "adult situations". I don't remember any nudity. There's no sex. I don't think there's even all that much cursing. But, it's a Woody Allen movie, so it does deal with discussion of sex. ...
Not really a joke; A flippant reflection on the impact of Nazi Germany on everyday Jewish life and family during WWII.
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Cast

Actors Character Born
Woody Allen Alvy Singer Dec 1, 1935 in Brooklyn, NY
Diane Keaton Annie Hall Jan 5, 1946 in Los Angeles, CA
Tony Roberts Rob Oct 22, 1939 in New York City, NY
Carol Kane Allison Jun 18, 1952 in Cleveland, OH
Paul Simon Tony Lacey Oct 13, 1941 in Newark, NJ
Colleen Dewhurst Mom Hall Jun 3, 1924 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Janet Margolin Robin Jul 25, 1943 in New York City, NY
Shelley Duvall Pam Jul 7, 1949 in Houston, TX
Christopher Walken Duane Hall Mar 31, 1943 in Astoria, Queens, NY
Donald Symington Dad Hall
Mordecai Lawner Alvy's Dad
Joan Newman Alvy's Mom
Jonathan Munk Alvy at 9
Ruth Volner Alvy's Aunt
Martin Rosenblatt Alvy's Uncle
Loretta Tupper Street Stranger
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Back to the topReview

Review by Rebecca Flint Marx
One of the greatest pleasures of Woody Allen's early work is his ability to skewer himself while skewering the conventions of the comedy genre. Annie Hall is perhaps the best example of this: a blend of slapstick, fantasy, and bittersweet romantic comedy, it is not so much about two people falling in love as about two brains trying to negotiate a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship. The neurotic, self-obsessed commentary on display in Annie Hall is pointed but relatively gentle, free of the bitterness that sometimes marked Allen's later work. The film is a series of insightful musings that leave the viewer feeling strangely optimistic--or at least very amused--about human nature. Much of this is due to Alvy and Annie themselves--unlike the oddly but perfectly matched couples fated to walk off into the sunset in the majority of romantic comedies, Alvy and Annie are consigned to further introspection, obsessive analysis, and bittersweet reflection. Part of the appeal of Annie Hall is that there are no pat answers: in watching the struggles of the characters, we see a reflection of our own struggles, without the condescending message that everything will be fine in the end. Annie Hall elevated Allen to the forefront of contemporary filmmakers, promoting him from a comedian who happened to make films to a comic filmmaker. The film also set a new standard for romantic comedies, its name alone becoming synonymous with the sub-genre of the intelligent, New York-based romantic comedy. On a less far-reaching scale, it also launched a fashion trend, with Diane Keaton's baggy menswear providing a welcome alternative to polyester pantsuits and flared trousers, anticipating the craze for androgynous clothing by almost twenty years.
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