Woody Allen doesn't think Annie Hall is that great

Or 'Manhattan,' or 'Hannah and Her Sisters'

"Cafe Society" Photocall - The 69th Annual Cannes Film Festival
Photo: Epsilon/Getty Images

Many cinephiles consider Annie Hall to be Woody Allen’s finest film — including EW’s own Chris Nashawaty — but Allen himself would beg to differ.

During Facebook Live conversation Wednesday with producer and filmmaker Robert Weide, Allen said he doesn’t think his acclaimed 1977 rom-com starring him and Diane Keaton is anything special.

“For some reason that film is very likable,” Allen said. “I’ve made better films than that. Match Point is a better film, Purple Rose of Cairo is a better film, the French one — Midnight in Paris — is a better film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona is as good. I mean, I’ve made films that were as good, but for some reason that’s got some charismatic, inexplicable hold on people. That and Manhattan too.”

As Allen explained further in the conversation, some of his most successful movies failed to live up to the versions in his head.

“When I finished Purple Rose I thought, ‘My God I hit very close to what [I envisioned],” Allen said. “Whereas Manhattan, I missed what I was going for. Same thing with Hannah and Her Sisters. I’m not saying it’s a terrible film or a bad — I’m not here to knock my films. But for me personally, I missed. It was too treacly at the end, too bailed-out.”

Watch Allen’s full conversation with Weide above.

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