Annie Hall to the camera, or launch into inspired monologues like Annie's free-association as she describes her family to Alvy. This speech by Diane Keaton is as close to perfect as such a speech can likely be ... all done in one take of brilliant brinksmanship." He cites a study that calculated the average shot length of "Annie Hall" to be 14.5 seconds, while other films made in 1977 had an average shot length of 4–7 seconds. Peter Cowie suggests that "Allen breaks up his extended shots with more orthodox cutting back and forth in conversation pieces, so that the forward momentum
Annie Hall out of five stars, calling it a "classic". In 2017, Claire Dederer wrote, ""Annie Hall" is the greatest comic film of the twentieth century [...] because it acknowledges the irrepressible nihilism that lurks at the center of all comedy." At Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 97% based on 70 reviews, with an average rating of 9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Filled with poignant performances and devastating humor, "Annie Hall" represents a quantum leap for Woody Allen and remains an American classic". Metacritic gave the film a score of 92 out of 100 based on 20