Number 13: Annie Hall (Best Picture Ranking)

I did not care very much for Annie Hall the first few times I saw it – especially Woody Allen’s annoying Alvy Singer always made me want to throw something at my TV. I think that, just like it was the case with The Apartment, I needed more time to fully appreciate this little romantic comedy.



It’s such a joyous, crazy and neurotic look at love and happiness, filled with what seems to be a ‘sitcom-style’ but is somehow so much more. Woody Allen’s direction sometimes seems to me like the direction of an overeager student who tries to put as many new and original things into his films as possible, but it helps that he both wrote and starred in the movie and so perfectly knew what would work and what wouldn’t. Annie Hall is all we would expect from Woody Allen and even more.

Woody Allen’s Alvy Singer still isn’t exactly my kind of favourite movie character but somehow I am beginning to understand him more and more. Sure, only Woody Allen would cast himself in a role that has women falling for him all the time (seriously…) but I can forgive him because he turned Alvy into such a neurotic mess at the same time. His constant way of talking down to people (the guys in front of the cinema, the guy standing in line) always rubs me a little bit the wrong way but I think Woody Allen makes us see Alvy like Annie begins to see him after a while. We know he isn’t perfect and even though they are absolutely adorable together we also must agree in the end that she is better off without him.



In the title role, Diane Keaton is easily the most praiseworthy aspect of a movie full of them. Her Annie is one of the most original creations in movie history – she’s charming, funny, a little dizzy and crazy but also very realistic and constantly growing as a human being. Certainly the best performance in a Woody-Allen-movie ever.



Annie Hall is not a hymn to love but instead presents it as something difficult, something that needs work and can’t be explained. It’s not romantic but rather a combination of intelligent observations and funny situation-comedy.



Overall, a movie that grows – it doesn’t really show all its magic and wisdom at a first sight but rather develops itself with time. A true winner!

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Title: Number 13: Annie Hall (Best Picture Ranking)
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