By Charles Cassady Jr. , based on child development research. How do we rate?
Classic comedy about relationships has mature themes.
Parents need to know that the movie will seem too dated for many teens, but older kids serious about film may be interested. Though lively, witty, and watchable for older teens, parents should be cautioned that this is not a movie for kids. The movie would be at least a PG-13 -- a rating that did not exist in 1977 --…
Characters frequently drink wine and smoke -- in bars and at parties. Marijuana
Infrequent profanity: "ass," "a--hole." In a flashback scene
Sex, Romance & NudityFrequent discussions of sex, with references to masturbation, sex toys, and grou
Violence & ScarinessA character who isn't good at driving is shown backing into one car, then hi
Products & Purchases Not presentFor all the pessimism and neurotic behavior throughout the film, the importance
Positive Role ModelsFor all his pessimism, neuroticism, and occasional flashes of misanthropy, Alvy
Characters frequently drink wine and smoke -- in bars and at parties. Marijuana is discussed as an aphrodisiac. In one scene, characters sit around a table while one character cuts lines of cocaine. During a flashback scene, a young boy tells the camera that he is now a "heroin addict."
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Infrequent profanity: "ass," "a--hole." In a flashback scene to the 1940s, a maid from Harlem is referred to as "colored."
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Frequent discussions of sex, with references to masturbation, sex toys, and group sex. Characters are shown trying to have sex while under blankets and are often shown when it's finished discussing how it was. During a flashback scene, a young girl in a classroom tells the camera that she is now "into leather."
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A character who isn't good at driving is shown backing into one car, then hitting two more before a police officer on a motorcycle shows up to take him to jail. In one joke, Woody Allen's character, Alvy, talks about how his grandparents were "raped by Cossacks."
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For all the pessimism and neurotic behavior throughout the film, the importance of cherishing the time you have with someone you have dated -- even if it doesn't work out -- is discussed and shown, as well as finding joy in the silly and sometimes absurd moments of life.
For all his pessimism, neuroticism, and occasional flashes of misanthropy, Alvy Singer learns to cherish the time he has spent with Annie and finds humor in all of life's absurdities.
Parents need to know that the movie will seem too dated for many teens, but older kids serious about film may be interested. Though lively, witty, and watchable for older teens, parents should be cautioned that this is not a movie for kids. The movie would be at least a PG-13 -- a rating that did not exist in 1977 -- were it to appear today. Know that it's very much a product of the permissive 1970s; there is casual sex as well as drug use (a brief bit centers on cocaine). Much of the bedroom stuff is innuendo, with nothing explicitly shown, but there are zingers in the dialogue that could lead to some awkward questions from the young ones. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
Annie Hall
Official trailer
Based on 5 parent reviews
Katherine R. Parent of 10, 14, 18+, 18+, 18+ and 5-year-old June 18, 2024 doctora Parent of 7-year-old February 10, 2024I am not a fan of Allen. This film has all of the trappings of Allen that I dislike, basically his neurosis front and center and on display for everyone to fawn over. I don't find it very funny, nor do I find his work generous or insightful. The two stars are both for Diane Keaton, who is irrepressible as Hall. and her fashion. yep. it's stellar.
Woody Allen plays an obsessively worried comic and writer named Alvy Singer. Alvy talks right to the viewer whenever he feels like it, and he feels like telling us about his latest romantic meltdown, a breakup with a woman named Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). Alvy is Jewish, twice divorced, and addicted to psychotherapy, and his idea of a date movie is a four-hour Holocaust documentary. Annie has none of these qualities, but they're instantly attracted to each other's quirkiness. Alvy nurtures Annie's singing career and gets her into night classes and therapy herself, but, on the downside, he refuses to commit and soon becomes jealous of her night-school instructor. Annie, meanwhile, thinks Alvy will always look down on her for not being as intellectual as he is. Alvy and Annie go through a cycle of splits and reconciliations. The final breakup occurs when Annie's vocal talents get the attention, both romantic and professional, of a music producer (Paul Simon) based in sunny Los Angeles, a place that New Yorker Alvy loathes. Much later Alvy and Annie meet again, but only as friends, and Alvy is left to conclude that love affairs are worth the trouble and losses that, for him anyway, seem inevitable.
This skillfully crafted film beat out the original Star Wars for the Best Picture Oscar. Do a thousand martyred Obi-Wan Kenobi action figures cry out for revenge? No, because ANNIE HALL really is a masterwork and an even more impressive one when you consider it didn't trigger a flood of Lucas-esque copycats (except in a fad for Annie Hall-inspired mismatched-wardrobe ensembles). Woody Allen's sophisticated take on relationships is lively and fleet enough (complete with an animated interlude that parodies Disney) to amuse adolescents in particular. Doubtless, though, it would be PG-13 -- a rating that did not exist in 1977 -- were it to appear today.
Woody Allen's long career has had different stages. Around the time Annie Hall was made, Allen was transitioning from broad, slapstick-heavy spoofs such as Sleeper and Bananas toward more personal, introspective comedies and dramas. Annie Hall may not have giant chickens or silly robot costumes, but it retains a plethora of one-liners and hilarious, attention-getting narrative devices, such as flashbacks that allow the adult Woody to sit in on his elementary-school days and argue Freud with the exasperated kids in his old homeroom. As a moralist, Allen -- too obviously -- has few solutions. But he asks many pointed questions. In one of a series of person-on-the-street interviews Alvy asks a couple who are content with each other what their secret is. They declare that they're shallow and stupid.
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