Film Review: "Annie Hall"

The film that beat "Star Wars" for the best picture oscar! Considered one of the classic romantic comedies, "Annie Hall" waywardly traces the relationship between Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) and Alvy Singer (Woody Allen). It tells it's tale completely out of order, keeping you active in trying to figure out when certain events occurred. Overall, I didn't think it was a fantastic film, but I felt the narrative style was superb. Allen broke through the fourth wall so many times, you'd figure he'd knock himself into a coma. It made the movie a bit charming, though, the fact that he was able to talk to us directly, or make absurd asides. For instance, when Annie and he were in line for a film, and the guy behind them kept saying his opinions out loud, Allen took him aside to confront one of the people he was criticizing.

It's that ability to not take itself so seriously that probably leads to the movie's charm. The drawback, to me, was the actual character of Annie. It as hard to feel much for her, because she was kind of crazy. Not in the creepy way, but in the way that you don't quite know how she works, even by the end. As such, it's hard for me to see was Alvy saw in her. Not that he wasn't eccentric himself, but as the protagonist, we're supposed to root for him.

The movie had good dialogue, was uniquely crafted and edited, and I can see why it attracted the academy's eye. Of course, I'm partial to "Star Wars," and I can't quite see how this film beat it. The other films that year were "Julia," "The Goodbye Girl," and "The Turning Point." I don't think I've heard of any of them.

"Annie Hall" can stand out as a unique romantic comedy, but aside from that, I'd rather watch "When Harry Met Sally." Maybe not as uniquely structured, but at least I felt more for the characters there.