Day 92 - Annie Hall

Day 92            Annie Hall [1977]

                          

Screenplay                    Woody Allen & Marshall Brickman

Director                         Woody Allen

Cinematography            Gordon Willis

Leads                            Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Shelley Duvall, Christopher Walken, Paul Simon

Production                      Rollins-Joffe Productions

IMDb                                 8/10

Rotten Tomatoes                97%

I’m afraid as good as I usually am about putting aside external factors and scrutinising the movie alone – I couldn’t do it this time. Woody Allen is a weird guy. This film is literally a snapshot of his real-life relationship with Diane Keaton and, although he claims it is not an autobiography, it is exactly how I imagine him to be in real life. I don’t think I got past that for the whole film. I thought Annie Hall (Keaton) herself was the star. She was ditsy and spaced out, but also didn’t just give-in to Alvie’s (Allen) wants and needs, thus was strong in her own right. Allen was hilarious at times, but mostly I found him annoying. Yes, there are some memorable jokes in there, but Allen tells so many jokes it becomes monotonous. The only way we break through this extensively witty exterior is when Allen steps out of the movie for a second and talks to the audience, or when he is subtitled. Even then he often seems insincere. Allen’s most popular film and I was unimpressed. There are much funnier people out there.

Acting                             3 / 4

Writing                         3.5 / 4

Cinematography              2 / 4

Music                              2 / 4

HWF rating              2.5 / 4