By far the most bittersweet on our list of best love-stories ever committed to celluloid, the 1970s classic Annie Hall is also probably the most relate-able. The film chronicles the story of a relationship from beginning to end through a series of vignettes and flashbacks, as we watch a couple meet, fall madly in love, stagnate, break up, date other people, eventually get back together, and ultimately decide to call it quits again. Along the way we also get hilarious glimpses into their childhoods and past relationships, along with inner monologes and mental subtitles that tell the audience but not each other what they are actually thinking, and allow us to know the characters motivations and insecurities on a deeper level. The film is genius on so many levels, equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking, and made a style icon and Oscar winner out of Diane Keaton, who shines as flighty but strong-willed Annie in the role that Allen wrote specifically for her.
We love the raw and brutal honesty in the portrayal of their relationship, as we see them go from shiny new lovers to restless and resentful, and we can't help thinking about the times that we've been there ourselves, wondering what to do with a relationship that we know deep down inside is irreparably broken.
Standout cameos include Paul Simon as the LA rock-star courting Annie, Shelley Duvall as the trippy waif Alvy sleeps with on the rebound, and a young Christopher Walken as Annie's majorly creepy little brother.
Oh yeah, and then there's the blink-and-you'll-miss-it Jeff Goldblum's first line ever in a movie.
Notable lines:
"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."
"I forgot my mantra"
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