It is under mild duress that I rate Annie Hall so highly. Critically speaking, this film impresses me greatly; Woody Allen's narration is so straight and candid, it's funny. Allen and Diane Keaton turn in splendid performances. Yet I am not a Woody Allen fan, and while the "feel" of the production may emanate quality, I can't shake the notion that this is a fancy outlet for Allen to whine. Some say his neurotic whining and wheedling is the key to his comedy, but it frankly just annoys me. Similarly, his stories of marriage gone awry are the key to his drama, and that gets tiresome. I much prefer Woody Allen when he's not in his own film. There's no question he's talented; among other things, he can deliver a silly line, outrageous or subtle, in the most frank, straight-faced manner cinema has seen since Buster Keaton. The glimpses of that particular talent we get in Annie Hall are, in my eyes, its saving grace.