Annie Hall’s story unfolds out of chronological
order, with events connected to one another by phrases or images
rather than cause-and-effect relationships. This jumpiness makes
sense within the film, however, as the story is told in retrospect,
with Alvy, as the narrator, attempting to make sense of his relationship
with Annie within the context of his entire life.
Annie Hall begins with Alvy speaking
directly to the camera. He delivers a few key jokes that humorously
set up his pessimistic view of life and then adopts a more serious
tone as he begins to confront the truth about his relationship with
Annie. The question of why the relationship ended is the central
question of the film. To find the answer, Alvy looks within himself,
and the film flashes back to his visit to a doctor at the age of
nine. Alvy is depressed because, as he explains, the universe is
expanding and will one day explode. The doctor tells him to enjoy
life while he can. The adult Alvy then turns to the schoolroom,
where he defends his younger self for kissing one of his female
classmates. The story flashes forward to a year or two before the
present, when Alvy is heavily involved with Annie, an aspiring singer,
who shows up unapologetically late for their movie date.
In line at the theater, the couple bickers: Alvy complains
about the obnoxious loudmouth behind him; Annie, about missing her therapy
session. After the film, Annie and Alvy go to bed. Uninterested
in sex, Annie brings up Alvy’s first wife. The film flashes back to
Alvy’s first encounter with Allison at a fundraiser, and to their sexual
problems when married, then returns to a point in time when Annie
and Alvy are more fully enjoying each other’s company. In a famous
scene, Annie and Alvy laugh as they clumsily try to cook some lobsters
at a house in the Hamptons. The film flashes back to Annie’s previous
romantic relationships, with Annie and Alvy physically present in
some scenes to provide commentary. Then, the film veers off to examine
Alvy’s second marriage, to a New York intellectual with whom he
is unable to have successful sex. Then, it jumps forward to Alvy’s
first meeting with Annie on the tennis court. After the game, Annie
makes awkward small talk with Alvy and offers him a ride home.
Alvy accepts the ride and then accepts Annie’s invitation
to go up to her apartment, where they drink wine and talk about
Annie’s books and family members. On the balcony, subtitles express
what each is really thinking throughout their nervous chatter. Alvy
asks Annie out and ends up going with her to a nightclub audition,
where she sings tentatively to a restless audience. On their way
to get dinner, Alvy spontaneously kisses Annie to “get it over with.”
The next scene is in the bedroom, after they have just finished
making love for the first time. Alvy is a mess; Annie smokes pot
to relax. The next scene has them at a bookstore, where Alvy buys
Annie two books about death in order to school her on his pessimism.
Vignettes follow in which Alvy woos Annie in Central Park and Annie
stutters her love for him on a waterfront dock. These brief moments
of heady romance end with an argumentative scene.
The rest of the film focuses on the relationship’s impending breakup.
Alvy wants Annie to have sex without marijuana, but she is so distant
he gives up. Alvy travels with Annie to her family home in Wisconsin,
where he feels alienated by her WASP family and “classic Jew hater”
grandmother. Alvy conjures up an imaginary conversation between
his family and Annie’s, and the film screen splits to illustrate
the contrast between the two worlds. Back in New York, Alvy encounters
Annie on the street. Annie accuses him of spying on her, and a heated
argument ensues. Searching for the secret to a successful relationship,
Alvy questions pedestrians on the street. He is left without a solution
and blames his failures on his problems in early life, saying he
always falls for the wrong women. In an animated scene, Annie is
transformed into the evil queen in Snow White and
Alvy is portrayed as small and childish. A cartoon version of Alvy’s
friend Rob enters, saying he has a new girl for Alvy.
Some time after splitting up with Annie, Alvy tries dating
again. He goes out with Pam, an odd, skinny Rolling Stone reporter
who describes things as “transplendent.” They have bad sex and are interrupted
afterward by a phone call from Annie. Alvy goes over to Annie’s
apartment to find a frazzled Annie, who asks him to kill a spider,
then cries about missing him. They reconcile and vow never to break
up again.
By this time, Annie’s singing talent has significantly
improved, and music producer Tony Lacey approaches her at her next
gig. In another split-screen scene, Alvy and Annie talk to their
respective therapists about their sexual problems. According to
Annie, they “constantly” sleep together; Alvy says “hardly ever.”
After an expensive mishap with cocaine, Alvy and Annie fly out to
Los Angeles, where they meet up with Rob and attend a party at Tony
Lacey’s house in Hollywood. On the flight home, Annie and Alvy decide their
relationship is a “dead shark” and no longer works. They split up.
Alvy dates other women with no luck. Lonely and unhappy,
he decides to get Annie back and flies out to L.A., where she is
living with Tony Lacey. He asks her to marry him. She declines.
In the next scene, Alvy is directing a rehearsal of his first play,
which dramatizes his relationship with Annie but gives it his ideal
ending, with Annie leaving L.A. for Alvy. Turning to the camera
and shrugging, Alvy dismisses his revision as no big deal: “You’re
always trying to get things to come out perfect in art because it’s
real difficult in life.” Alvy and Annie meet once more when they
are both dating other people. In brief snapshots, the film flashes
back to happier times between Annie and Alvy, summing up his memories
and memorializing their relationship. In a brief, distant shot,
they are seen shaking hands and parting, Alvy with his head down.
Alvy gives a last voiceover about relationships, concluding that
they are absurd and futile but ultimately necessary. Annie’s song,
“Seems Like Old Times,” swells up as the credits roll.
