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 run less-prestigious fare such as "The House of Exorcism" and "Messiah of Evil". Rob's demonstration of adding canned laughter to television demonstrates the "cynical artifice of the medium". New York serves as a symbol of Alvy's personality ("gloomy, claustrophobic, and socially cold, but also an intellectual haven full of nervous energy") while Los Angeles is a symbol of freedom for Annie. "Annie Hall" has been cited as a film which uses both therapy and analysis for comic effect. Sam B. Girgus considers "Annie Hall" to be a story about memory and retrospection, which "dramatizes a return via narrative desire to