<PERSON>
Even after <PERSON> multiple cancellations, Annie Hall remains a film that many sharp film lovers just can't quit. <PERSON>'s first foray into "serious" filmmaking finds him starring as <PERSON>, a character not unlike himself (What are the odds?!) who is a successful comedian but relatively unlucky in love ... until he meets <PERSON>, played brilliantly by <PERSON>. <PERSON>'s not a man's man, and he's not classically attractive. But he uses his humor and quick wit to exude confidence. <PERSON> is not very book-smart, but she is intuitive and spontaneous. She's Protestant and he's Jewish. She's kind of hip and he's resolutely square. And this whirlwind romance eventually fizzles out. 132
But what makes Annie Hall such a great movie is not just the very believable romance at the heart of it. <PERSON> creates a postmodern masterpiece by futzing about with the traditional framed or linear narratives which are the mainstay of most romantic comedies. He breaks the fourth wall constantly, talking directly to the camera. He provides commentary on his life as it is being acted out. He takes elements of slapstick comedy and slaps them atop a fairly serious and dour documentary about the rise and fall of a relatively short relationship that lacks a classic Aristotelian happy ending. <PERSON>'s postmodern wizardry, however, would mean nothing without all the funny jokes! There are some many quotable lines and memorable scenes ("I forgot my mantra!"; the subtitled sequence; the <PERSON> scene; "Don't knock masturbation. It's sex with someone I love."; "Dissentary"; "Harvard makes mistakes. <PERSON> taught there."; the look on <PERSON>'s face when <PERSON>'s brother--played by <PERSON>--is driving and talking nonchalantly about suicide) that the film transcends conventional genre categorization. Though it's not my favorite film of <PERSON>'s (it is near the top of the heap), <PERSON> sets in place his approach for a brilliant run of intellectually stimulating and often hilarious movies that lasts (arguably) until 1989's Crimes and Misdemeanors. 698