Arguably Woody Allen's most successful and satisfying romantic comedy, Annie Hall follows the up and down relationship of two mismatched New York neurotics. Comedy writer Alvy Singer (Allen)...

Arguably Woody Allen's most successful and satisfying romantic comedy, Annie Hall follows the up and down relationship of two mismatched New York neurotics. Comedy writer Alvy Singer (Allen) ponders the modern quest for love and his past romance with tightly-wound 'WASP' singer Annie Hall (Diane Keaton, née Diane Hall). The twice-divorced Alvy knows that it's not easy to find a mate when the options include pretentious New York intellectuals and lifestyle-obsessed Rolling Stone writers, but la-di-dah-ing Annie seems different. Along the rocky road of their coupling, Allen/Alvy weigh in on such topics as endless therapy, movies vs. TV, the absurdity of dating rituals, anti-Semitism, drugs, and, in one of the best set pieces, repressed Midwestern WASP insanity vs. crazy Brooklyn Jewish boisterousness. Annie wants to move to Los Angeles to find that fame that finally does in the relationship -- but not before Alvy gets in a few digs at vacuous, mantra-fixated California. Originally entitled Anhedonia (the inability to enjoy oneself), Annie Hall blended the slapstick and fantasy from such earlier Allen films as Sleeper (1973) and Bananas (1971) with the more autobiographical musings of his stand-up and written comedy, using an array of such movie techniques as talking heads, splitscreens, and subtitles. Within these gleeful formal experiments and sight gags, Allen and co-writer Marshall Brickman skewered 1970s solipsism, reversing the happy marriage of opposites found in classic screwball comedies. Hailed as Allen's most mature and personal film; audiences enthusiastically responded to Allen's take on contemporary love and turned Keaton's rumpled menswear into a fashion trend. The film won several Oscars including Best Picture, Best Actress (Keaton), Best Director (Allen), and Best Screenplay (Allen and Brickman).