Burning Annie

Running time: N/A

World Premiere - Can a "20-year-old movie about a failed relationship" be someone's guide through life? It can if you're Max, a college student obsessed with Woody Allen's Annie Hall to the point of sabotaging his own dates if necessary. Sharing his time between a radio show to which nobody listens and hanging out with his romance-challenged colleagues, Max seems bound for bachelorhood. That is, until he meets beautiful Julie, who is nothing less than his favorite film in the flesh. Will he be able to reach out to her, or will he be trapped forever by his own neurosis? With scalpel-like precision and an abundance of sharp wit, Burning Annie is a refreshing comedy that looks at the dating scene and its many dwellers groping for the right romantic connections. Aided by an engaging cast (each having a "Bacon Factor" of two), director Van Flesher has fashioned a comic gem with equal parts of honey and vinegar. - Fernando F. Croce