Annie Hall and several awards, Allen himself was disappointed with it, and said in an interview, "When "Annie Hall" started out, that film was not supposed to be what I wound up with. The film was supposed to be what happens in a guy's mind ... Nobody understood anything that went on. The relationship between myself and Diane Keaton was all anyone cared about. That was not what I cared about ... In the end, I had to reduce the film to just me and Diane Keaton, and that relationship, so I was quite disappointed in that movie". Allen has repeatedly declined
Annie Hall in the scene where Alvy Singer has written a two-character play nakedly based on himself and Annie Hall. Simon's review of "Annie Hall" made a general assessment that didn't pan out: "It is a film so shapeless, sprawling, repetitious, and aimless as to seem to beg for oblivion. At this, it is successful." After more than a quarter century, the film has continued to receive positive reviews. In his 2002 lookback, Roger Ebert noted with surprise that the film had "an instant familiarity" despite its age, and "Slant" writer Jaime N. Christley found the one-liners "still gut-busting after 35 years".