Summer of Movies #8: Annie Hall

After seeing and loving "Midnight in Paris", I was ready to watch any Woody Allen film I could. I never saw another Allen film until today. This is the movie that made Allen's career, a movie that is highly respected and loved by many. Of course, I went in with high expectations, did it live up to them? I don't know...but let's find out in my review of...

Let's Begin

PLOT

The story of neurotic comedian Woody Alle-...I mean Alvy Singer and his relationship with Annie Hall. Don't get more complex than that.

PROS

Alvy and Annie are flawed characters, and Allen gets that, constantly making fun and analyzing his and her flaws. 

This movie does what many movies have tried and failed to do, have you like a douchebag. Alvy is an anal retentive, cautious, hypocritical wreck, and he knows it, addressing the audience many times asking questions and wondering what his doing wrong, and he never forces you to like Alvy, which in turn makes us like him. This leads to Allen making the most believable, lovable, and most hilarious relationship in film history.

The comedy in this film is spot on. It covers all spectrums and moves faster than the speed of light. There's fourth-wall breaking jokes, where Allen will address the audience and basically walk out of own movie, the famous and best scene being in the movie theater line, regular jokes, how lives are different in L.A. than New York, political, goofy, and many more. I was laughing constantly throughout this film

Allen use some very inserting film techniques that really make it its own thing. Whenever Alvy and Annie mention something, the movie will cut to the past and how what Alvy and Annie just said completly contradicts whatever they just said, or in some flash backs the characters will be in the scene with their younger selves, making comments on what's going on. 

CONCLUSION

This was the hardest review I've ever had to do. When the film was over, I still wasn't sure what I thought about it. I spent a whole night and a whole morning just trying to get my thoughts together. I decided that I may as well watch the movie again and see if there is something I missed, 10 minutes in, it hit me. If a movie can make me think for almost 12 hours straight, then it must be a good film, and if I can willingly watch it again even though I'm not entirely sure it's a good film, than it must be a great film. I love this movie. Its made me think more than anything has in my life, it made me laugh just as much, and I'll be sure to keep watching Allen's stuff before that tragic day when he finally kicks the bucket.

RATING

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