Annie Hall | 
| Director: Woody Allen
Actors: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane, Janet Margolin
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Category: DVD
Buy New: $21.94
New (18) Used (10) Collectible (1) from $9.99
Rating:  197 reviews
Sales Rank: 5265
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd, Full Screen, Letterboxed, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 2
Picture Format: Array
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 93 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: MGMDM110917D
ISBN: 6304907729
UPC: 027616655929
EAN: 9786304907726
ASIN: 6304907729
Theatrical Release Date: April 20, 1977
Release Date: May 30, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Tcfhe/mgm Release Date: 08/05/2008 Run time: 93 minutes Rating: Pg
Amazon.com essential video
Annie Hall is one of the truest, most bittersweet romances on film. In it, Allen plays a thinly disguised version of himself: Alvy Singer, a successful--if neurotic--television comedian living in Manhattan. Annie (the wholesomely luminous Dianne Keaton) is a Midwestern transplant who dabbles in photography and sings in small clubs. When the two meet, the sparks are immediate--if repressed. Alone in her apartment for the first time, Alvy and Annie navigate a minefield of self-conscious "is-this-person-someone-I'd-want-to-get-involved-with?" conversation. As they speak, subtitles flash their unspoken thoughts: the likes of "I'm not smart enough for him" and "I sound like a jerk." Despite all their caution, they connect, and we're swept up in the flush of their new romance. Allen's antic sensibility shines here in a series of flashbacks to Alvy's childhood, growing up, quite literally, under a rumbling roller coaster. His boisterous Jewish family's dinner table shares a split screen with the WASP-y Hall's tight-lipped holiday table, one Alvy has joined for the first time. His position as outsider is uncontestable he looks down the table and sizes up Annie's "Grammy Hall" as "a classic Jew-hater." The relationship arcs, as does Annie's growing desire for independence. It quickly becomes clear that the two are on separate tracks, as what was once endearing becomes annoying. Annie Hall embraces Allen's central themes--his love affair with New York (and hatred of Los Angeles), how impossible relationships are, and his fear of death. But their balance is just right, the chemistry between Allen's worry-wart Alvy and Keaton's gangly, loopy Annie is one of the screen's best pairings. It couldn't be more engaging. --Susan Benson
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| Customer Reviews: Read 192 more reviews...
 Good outing July 2, 2009
Does Not Matter (MA, USA)
It is good but it does not measure up to true masterpieces that followed later on (Manhattan and Crimes and Misdemeanors).
 A major turning point May 28, 2009
Galina (Virginia, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have been a huge fan of Allen's works for years and I've seen every movie he's made. Strangely, Annie Hall, the most celebrated and universally considered THE Best Woody Allen's movie ever, did not belong to the top list of my favorite Allen's films. It took me three times to watch it and finally I can say yes, it is indeed a marvelous film, one of the best romantic stories told from the screen, the love story that could've only been made by Woody Allen. Its tag line says "A nervous romance", and they never came more nervous than Annie Hall. This is a story of two people who truly loved each their but could not stay together and moved on with their lives. Simple like that but it was told by Woody Allen, what made it not so simple and very enjoyable. This is the film where Diane Keaton had proved a perfect actress for Allen's movies. She brought to the film a lot of herself, her natural nervousness and insecure attitude to the role, even her dressing style that became hugely popular, and she was able to look at herself from the distance. She played Annie with such elegance, bemusement, perfect timing, and sense of humor, that for the whole time I kept asking myself how she did it. The part of the answer is that Allen understood her completely and masterfully used the originality of her persona to write and direct the character of Annie. Keaton recalls, "Of course I recognized myself in the roles Woody Allen wrote. I mean, in Annie Hall (1977) particularly. I was this sort of novice who had lots of feelings but didn't know how to express herself, and I see that in Annie. I think Woody used a kind of essential quality that he found in me at that time, and I'm glad he did because it worked really well in the movie."
For Annie Hall, Allen received his first and only nomination for acting, and he deserved it. You may say that you've seen all his tricks many times but Annie Hall was the first movie where he mixed physical comedy, anxiety, and neurosis with the genuine feelings of love and nostalgia so touchingly and funny. Engaging the audience to the film by talking directly to them may not be used for the first time ever by Allen but it worked perfectly in Annie Hall. Who would forget the scene in the ticket booth in an art house movie cinema where Woody summons up Marshall McLuhan to silence a never stop talking self important movie critic? The flashbacks are smart and funny, the split screen Allen uses, really added to the characters' understanding by comparison two parallel streams of thought. Both, NYC and its antitheses, LA look gorgeous. Even the smallest cameos are memorable (Christopher Walken and Jeff Goldblum, for example).
I think that the fascination and love that the film received upon its release had to do a lot with the fact that it was so different from everything Allen had done before Annie Hall. Checking the list of his earlier movies, one can't help noticing that they were pure slapstick comedies. The only earlier film that can be called Annie Hall's true predecessor is the one that Allen did not direct even though he wrote it, starred in it and for the first time shared the screen with Diane Keaton - Play it Again, Sam. I still believe that Allen has made films better than Annie Hall, at least I love 'Manhattan", "Hanna and Her Sisters', "Zelig", and especially "Crimes and Misdemeanors" more and place them above Annie Hall. But as the first Allen's romantic dramedy, the one that had started the whole genre of independent and sophisticated urban love stories with an unusual, over self-involved and self-obsessed and not always likable lead hero who nevertheless is always ready to be the first to laugh at himself and to look at himself from the distance, Annie Hall has found the high place in the film history.
Critics have compared Annie Hall to Fellini's 8 1/2 but Woody responded in his typical way that "it's more like my 2 1/2". The members of the academy did not think so, and rewarded the film with 5 Oscar nominations, of which it won four, making Annie Hall one of very few comedies to have won Best Picture of the year Oscar and the shortest ever Oscar winner - 93 precious minutes of Woody Allen's genius and Diane Keaton's charm.
 What was that about? May 18, 2009
T (NC)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am aware that this movie won an Oscar but truly, I have not a slightest idea why. "Annie Hall" in my opinion is the worst Woody Allen's movie out of all those I've seen so far. Worse even than "Vicky Christina Barcelona" and "Cassandra's Dream." It was impossible for me to connect with the story, I couldn't understand the relationship between Allen's character and Annie, the movie itself was directed in a very strange way. I don't know, I didn't really enjoy it, but I was able to finish watching it and for that I gave it 2 stars.
"Love is too weak a word for what I feel - I luuurve you" May 18, 2009
Snow White (Orange County)
What can be said of Woody Allen's 1977 masterpiece and comedic gem Annie Hall?! (especially when there's already been quite to much said, and well, who doesn't already know the tale!)
Well, Woody Allen plays Alvy Singer, a quirky, neurotic comedian dealing with the failed relationship between himself and Miss. Annie Hall(Diane Keaton)
While still maintaining to be a non-stop laugh riot, Annie Hall is poignant and forever relevant thanks to the severity of these relationships quips and their seemingly 'straight-out-of-real-life' capability.
The first five minutes alone are pure genius, Alvy's monologue will never cease to amaze me.. viewing after viewing, after viewing...
"A relationship, I think, is like a shark. You know? It has to constantly move forward or it dies. And I think what we got on our hands is a dead shark."
Annie Hall is a movie I for one, will never forget, never cease to admire, and will still manage to make me laugh.
Thanks Woody!
Woody Allen's best film--ever April 12, 2009
Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service)
Annie Hall is Woody Allen's best film. This is Allen at his best: We get flawless, meaningful performances from a great cast and the plot moves along at a very good pace. The editing was wonderful. Although Woody Allen had to cut much from the original version of this film, he cut well and we get a motion picture with practically nothing left to remove. What's more, there's so much comedy in this film it stands out as one of the best comedies I've ever seen. The cinematography is very well done and the choreography works best in crowd scenes and the scenes on the streets of Manhattan.
When the action starts, we meet twice divorced Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) who pals around with his friend Rob (Tony Roberts). Alvy comes from a dysfunctional family that literally lived under the roller coaster at Coney Island; and he hasn't stopped shaking and being neurotic since his childhood. One day Alvy, Rob and a couple of women gather to play indoor tennis--and Alvy meets Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). It isn't long, either, before Alvy and Annie strike up a pretty hot romance despite a few awkward moments in their very first conversations.
As time passes, Alvy and Annie have a lot of experiences--some good, some bad; but they stay together through it. Alvy tries to get Annie to "broaden her horizons" with books that he buys for her and his encouragement for her to take continuing education courses at New York University. Annie and Alvy also enjoy a pretty good romantic life.
But things change over time. Annie grows but Alvy essentially stays the same. Annie wants to move to Los Angeles where she thinks she can record music along with Tony Lacey (Paul Simon); but Alvy wants to stay in New York. Alvy can't stand California in general and he especially hates Los Angeles.
The plot can go anywhere from here. Annie also sings and dabbles in photography--will this affect their relationship? Will Alvy move out to California to continue his relationship with Annie? What about Tony Lacey--he seems to be attracted to Annie. Will Tony come between Alvy and Annie? Watch and find out!
I must say that Woody Allen uses some pretty incredible techniques to show how people can see others. At one point, Alvy images that he appears to be a Hasidic Jew in the eyes of the anti-Semitic "Grammy Hall" (Helen Ludlam). At another point, Allen has Alvy, Annie and Rob looking on at a party given many years prior for a family member back in Brooklyn; and it's fascinating to see the characters in the present react to the party so many years prior.
Annie Hall will always be a timeless love story with so much comedy you'll practically roll over on the floor with laughter. Obviously, this film is a "must-have" for fans of the actors in this film; and Woody Allen fans could never have a complete collection of his work unless they have this film. This film is highly recommended!
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