Ok, the man is an establishment. That's what keeps this movie from being vague, shallow and void. Woody Allen can claim for himself his kind of movies, and nobody else does them like he does. So, when you see a Woody Allen movie, you know precisely what you are going to get, the difference being sometimes more surprised, and sometimes less. Well, here there's no surprise, except the way that Allen seeks new talent and awards them with the typical alter ego role. It's up to them to prove that they can handle it. Kenneth Branagh did it, John Cusack did it, and now Jason Biggs is the nervous new yorker who goes to psycho analysis. Well, it works, but the truth is that Biggs' character behaves like a 35-year-old trapped in a 21-year-old body. And the fact that some of the movie doesn't make much sense, you can never forget that this is the realm of Woody Allen, and even if it doesn't make sense, it's always funny and you'll always laugh. Everybody remembers the plotless "Everybody Says I Love You" but no one cared for the plot. It was entertaining. Same here. Sometimes I'd wish that Woody Allen tried a little harder to make movies with a thicker plot - remember "Bullets Over Broadway". But anyway, this movie is a permanent joy to watch, thanks to the great actors, great comedy (even with a non-existent story) and a great photography from Darius Khondji.
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Dockelektro1 February 2004
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iwatcheverything4 January 2004I'll make this short but sweet. You must like Woody Allen movies to like this film. It is not your ordinary comedy. Good thing for me I think Allen's humor is great. Biggs did a very awesome job in this film. While he talked he scared me as to how much he sounded like Woody Allen. I will want to one day own this film. It is a very good one by the great writer/director.
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BetterThanKerouac13 April 2006IRRITATING? Heck, yeah. Self-indulgent? For sure. A rehash of virtually every movie its creator has done in past years? Probably. Nevertheless, Anything Else also happens to be the most enjoyable Woody Allen flick since . . . well, take your pick.
Admittedly, it doesn't entirely work on every level but it's a movie that does enough to suggest that Allen is back to something like his best form.
With Anything Else, the much maligned movie-maker is clearly pitching for a younger audience. And it's about time, too. Allen himself takes a supporting role and in comes Jason Biggs (American Pie) as the neurotic Jewish Manhattanite, while Christina Ricci gets the nod as the love interest.
Biggs is Jerry Falk, a young Allen-esquire comedy writer looking to make it big and Ricci is Amanda, a chain-smoking, neurotically self-obsessed Beatnik who drives men wild with her huge eyes and button nose.
At the beginning the pair fall for each other instantly, then spend the duration of the film trying to work out their complex and complicated relationship - especially after Amanda's equally neurotic, narcissistic mother (Stockard Channing) moves in to their small apartment to live with them.
Allen himself stars as David Dobel, an ageing comedy writer who mentors Jerry during their daily stroll through Central Park. But it soon becomes apparent that Dobel has a bit of a problem controlling his temper and this works as a neat diversion from the romantic comedy aspect of the movie.
And Allen seems finally to have twigged that it's no longer plausible for him to make flicks in which he plays the character involved with some young girl. Who, after all, wants to see him, at 64, snuggling up to the fresh-faced likes of Ricci? Like any Allen flick, Anything Else is nothing if not wordy. As always, the conversations go on a lot longer than they should, but the script is at least scattered with killer one-liners. Such a moment arrives when Amanda attempts to reassure the sexually-starved Jerry.
"Just because I pull away every time you touch me doesn't mean I don't love you," she quips. In another scene, there's an entertaining exchange between the mismatched couple, who are reminiscing about when they first met.
Amanda: "I had a crush on you. Couldn't you tell by the way I was ignoring you?" and Jerry: "There was something compelling about your apathy." The picture looks great, too, with some neat cinematography by Darius Khondji that shows off Central Park to good effect - not, you understand, that anyone's gone to a Woody Allen movie for the scenery. It's the dialogue that matters most of all - and, even by Allen's standards, this features a staggering amount.
On the negative side, is the casting of Biggs. All those who remember Kenneth Branagh's excellent turn in Celebrity will cringe while watching this guy stutter his way through the traditional Woody role.
Ricci, though, is perfectly cast as an actress with an eating disorder, which reflects her own anorexia when she was 14. There is also a stellar supporting role from Danny DeVito. -
Gordon-118 August 2007This film is a romantic comedy about two young lovers and an older man who happens to be very paranoid.
Anything Else is a typical Woody Allen film, where there are a lot of paranoia and irony. It is dialog heavy, which is a good thing because the dialogs are fun and witty. There are so many memorable scenes in this film. An example is that Woody Allen thiks it is necessary to carry a chainsaw because the modern world is infested with crime. Another scene is that Christina Ricci is too scared to have sex and has a panic attack, and yet she allows the doctor to touch her all over and have no panic attack. That scene is just so funny. I hope this film and other recent Woody Allen films, like "Small Time Crooks" and "Hollywood Ending", reach a wider audience. -
As usual, somehow, Allen gets you absorbed into the characters, their situations and scenarios.
This film concentrates on Allens character David Dobel, teaching a younger version of himself Jerry Falk, that he meets and they continue to meet and have discussions about relationships, psychiatry, work, life and things. Jerry's girlfriend Amanda is summed up by Dobel in the short moment they met and Jerry cannot seem to see exactly what's happening under his own nose... You want Jerry to see what's happening, his inability to break off bad relationships, such as his girlfriend, his manager and his psychiatrist.
Allen also manages to direct the scenes to make the cinematography appear as a documentary, very natural, including the minor background scenes and the secondary impulses people have when in dialogue, such as ordering coffee, reactions to bumping into other people, speaking over others and each other. -
lawprof27 September 2003Written and directed by Woody Allen, also a main star, "Anything Else" has the virtue of bringing some new lines and funny scenes to the Manhattan he adores. And today's Upper West Side audience fully enjoyed the quips, at least a few of which, as always, won't be understood much north of the George Washington Bridge. And certainly not south of it.
Forever neurotic, and perhaps the only comedian who can get a laugh with a joke about Auschwitz, Allen plays a single, graying comedy writer with a day job as a public high school teacher. His character is named David Dobel. Forget it, it's irrelevant. This is the same Woody we've known for decades pontificating on every possible subject to young protege, Jerry Falk (Jason Biggs). Falk, a comedy writer who seems to be doing well, is living with drop-dead-beautiful Amanda (Christina Ricci) who has developed a hangup about having sex with her lover. A frustrating situation. Made worse by the arrival of Amanda's mom, Paula (played with devastating scene-stealing by Stockard Channing).
Falk has an agent, Harvey (Danny De Vito). De Vito's fine but we've seen him do this kind of character often and while amusing there's nothing special here.
Biggs, a young actor, is believable as he struggles to hold on to his girlfriend whose perplexing behavior seems to have no discernible cause. Allen uses his familiar technique of having a main character, here Falk, frequently speak to the audience.
What is special is the increasingly interesting Ricci whose ability to shift moods from seductive to exasperated to bitchy is marvelous. A real talent here-she's got a lot of room to grow.
I won't spoil anyone's fun but one line, which should have produced mild smiles, rocked the audience with raucous laughter. Why? Because no filmmaker, not even Woody, can predict the future.
I don't know how well "Anything Else" will play outside a few big cities and some campuses and even there long runs aren't likely. Don't go if you've had a surfeit of Allen in the past ten years. No one can claim this is a great film as are some of his earlier ones. But if, like me, you're loyal to a brilliant comic who zeroes in on many of our civilization's discontents (you didn't think he'd give up on harpooning analysts, did you?), this is a good, fun film. And the scenes shot in Gotham are great, some within a five-minute walk of the theater.
A comfortable, even comforting, experience for all who now wait for Woody's NEXT movie. I'm one of them.
7/10. -
db-15519 February 2011At around 6.5. From what I've seen, the gist of an IMDb Woody Allen rating is that you can add two points to the film if you're a fan, and subtract two points if you're not.
My first time seeing this on the small screen, through a sequential re-viewing of the entire works (most of which I'd seen before, but not this one). Of course it has some great lines, deep existential truths and some perfectly observed moments. This is why I would watch any Woody film, you never leave empty.
On the other hand, Allen's tendency to ventriloquise any protagonist that isn't him is in full effect with Biggs not really up to the character's dialogue as written (whether this is a problem with writing, acting or casting doesn't really matter). Also, the early script often drags, as Allen's tendency to hammer home a relationship dynamic in the character setup makes for a lot of work in the first part of the film. I guess non-fans might be turned off by the lack of likable characters.
In the end though, this one contained some gems in the writing; and insight into the way the world provides you with plenty of impetus to conform to a bad situation, but very little to move to a better one.
Don't usually like to write a spoiler, but for me the obvious twist left undone in Allen's assault on authority is that HE should have ended up dating Ricci's character while sending Falk off for 'his own good'. As it is, Allen gave himself the easy out. He's a prick like that. But also one of the best film-makers that ever lived. -
travisimo16 January 2004Is there anything worse in the movie world than a comedy that is completely unfunny? If comedy is not accomplished, what exactly is the point of the picture? The end result is a two hour experience that feels like five hours.
I'm wondering if this was a bad movie to get introduced to Woody Allen. I've never watched a Woody Allen comedy before, and I know he's quite different from other comedic directors, but after watching Anything Else, I just don't get it. They were a few chuckles here and there, but for the most part, the movie was just boring, unfunny, and depressing (a depressing comedy? What an oxymoron!)
I just could not relate to the characters at all. Jason Biggs supposedly plays a comedian who falls in love with Christina Ricci's character. Both characters are just annoying especially the one played by Christina Ricci. I guess her instability and constant complaining was supposed to be funny. It just dragged the movie on even longer.
Two other minor characters played by Jimmy Fallon and Danny DeVito were completely dispensable. Jimmy Fallon showed up for one scene but is billed on the DVD cover, and Danny DeVito's character was just plain annoying as a groveling, unsuccessful agent. Maybe the point of the movie was to create so many annoying characters that we can laugh at them. Lastly, Woody Allen played a character in this movie, and he was really the only somewhat bright spot for the whole picture. He had some funny lines and gave the story a little extra pep but definitely not enough.
Overall, I'd say this is not a movie for the recreational moviegoer. I think you have to be a die-hard Woody Allen fan to appreciate droning chitchat as comedic gold. Just give me great, fun comedies like Old School or School of Rock any day.
My IMDb Rating: 2/10. My Yahoo! Grade: D- (Truly Awful) -
RedSoxCoder25 February 2007This movie really is an underrated gem. Somehow most critics have become totally unable to accept Woody Allen's work for what it is and compare it only to other movies from the same years.
Woody Allen has said many times that he has no interest in looking back to his old work and, in my opinion, it really shows. From someone who has often raved about the 'Radio Days' of his youth and adores prewar Jazz, he has steadily developed into a director who has no trouble catching the modern every day lives of the people around him. Recreating the atmosphere from his older movies would only show the inability to move on, along with the rest of the world.
Anything Else is proof of that. It's a modern movie with a typical Woody Allen style dialogue that works on several levels. Between the jokes and witty remarks and often great replies, lie the worries of any young guy or girl that has to learn to deal with life's fears and frustrations. Anything Else also has a really nice atmosphere and a great pace - the movie at almost 2 hours never feels like it's stalling or going nowhere. The story moves forward constantly. Biggs really is the star here and is a perfect Young Woody Allen. Ricci is only a supporting character, but both she and the rest of the cast really make this into a believable, relaxed and enjoyable experience.
For those who are willing to learn a little: this movie does make a simple, but very true point about learning to deal with life.
Photography, directing, editing and writing is really first class work - nothing less than what you get in other top Woody Allen movies. Beautiful locations, great camera work and typical Woody style jazz really make this into a perfect 10/10.
The lack of awards and negative reviews are just like Dobel (Woody Allen) says in this movie: You know....it's just like anything else.
Go see it for yourselves! -
Average Woody Allen is still better than 90% of what's playing theatrically at any given time, so once again we all made the trip to the theatre as we do each year to see "the new Woody Allen." After SMALL TIME CROOKS and CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION and HOLLYWOOD ENDING, all of which were successful attempts to cross over and break out of the "Woody Allen market" and into the general audience, Anything Else features two young leads--Jason Biggs and Christina
Ricci--performing in what's basically a re-write of elements from earlier Allen films such as Annie Hall and Manhattan. Despite the appeal of the young leads, I can't see this film appealing to a young audience. At 45, I was the youngest person in the theatre (except for my teenaged children). Like, say, a later film of Laurel and Hardy or a later film of Clark Gable, this is of interest because it's Woody Allen. It has its charms. The casting is great--beyond Biggs and Ricci, Stockard Channing is hilarious of Ricci's mother, and both Jimmy Fallon and Danny DeVito (neither of whom I usually like) are well-cast in supporting roles. There is a lot of well-written, literate dialogue. Allen's insights into human nature are occasionally insightful. Allen is actually playing a character that IS NOT COMPLETELY his usual persona. The photography is beautiful, as always. Watch for Woody to switch studios again. I don't expect this one to be in theatres long, so see it while you can. -
sfiller9 March 2005Started 15 minutes into it and left 30 minutes later. I couldn't take it anymore. Why do people continue to insist Woody Allen is a genius? He hasn't had an original piece of work for years.
He keeps writing the same characters over and over. Same music, same Woody character just a younger body. The man has lost all originality and imagination. It is as if he just changed the names of one of his past screenplays. Jason Biggs is the new body, he can do better. Christina Ricci is the new Diane Keaton, yech! This film is pathetic. Don't lose a minute of your life on this. Run the other direction! Fast! -
jeremy-liebster7 March 2005The predictability of the reviews on this database is hilarious. Every Woody Allen film gets...'it's not as good as Annie Hall'. Over and over and over again. As though Woody Allen has committed a heinous crime in making a supposedly lesser film. Just as every Martin Scorsese film gets a run of 'It's not Raging Bull or Goodfellas'. Over and over and over again. I think that sometimes people sit down intent on wallowing in gloom, specifically to compare a film negatively with a director or actor's previous works. Probably the sort of irritating people who go back to the same place on holiday every year and complain that it was cheaper last year, much more fun and friendly and the place has become too commercialised.
Quite frankly I don't care if Anything Else is as good as Annie Hall. I loved it. From start to finish I laughed out loud at the fantastic dialogue, and unlike others I thought the acting was superb. Having heard next to nothing about it on release, this was one of the most unexpectedly funny, heart warming and intelligent films I have seen for some time. -
sol-24 July 2005This may not be as funny or as deep as some of Woody Allen's other films, but it is still another solid entry in his career. Allen has some things to say about the way in which people function and there are also some great lines of his typical wit. Jason Biggs gives off a surprisingly strong performance, and as usual, Woody Allen's choice of music is flawless. There are some awkward moments between the jokes, the storyline is a bit stale, and the talking to the audience narration jars the story action a bit. However, despite any problems that the film may have, it still is pleasant, entertaining stuff, with Allen a delight to have on screen in a role much smaller than what he usually writes for himself.
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crudupfan17 September 2003Remember the last ten minutes of ANNIE HALL (a classic that I love)? Woody writes a play about his experiences, and two college kids audition for the roles.
That's what this entire movie is like to watch.
Jason Biggs has the rather unfortunate job of portraying the 'Woody' role, and he does so by putting on a coat and a deep voice. The effect is like watching your child put on your shoes and coat and walk around pretending to be mature.
Christina Ricci preens and poses to better effect, but still one would have to suspend all disbelief to imagine her having a deep thought in her head at all.
ENTIRELY miscast, Woody plays the role Danny DeVito is perfect for, Danny DeVito plays the role Woody is perfect for, and there are several 'hot young things' who have one or two lines here or there.
The whole affair left me remembering when Woody Allen cast his films with care, rather than looking at the box office and finding the latest hot young thing. I ended up feeling sorry for all the actors, and rushing out to rent MANHATTAN, which, like Annie Hall, remains a classic, and will always be there to remind us of what once was with Woody Allen. -
BrianDanaCamp15 September 2003Woody Allen steps back from himself in ANYTHING ELSE and turns center stage over to a couple of young protagonists who are allowed to thrash around and make their own mistakes, with only a little kibitzing from the side by Woody. In the process, the film tackles all of the larger issues of life, love, ethics and the loneliness of man in the universe that Woody has grappled with, in varying degrees of clarity, in so many of his earlier films, but does it in a way that charms and tickles the audience and, ultimately, reassures them. While Woody's character has a dark, paranoid streak to him, the film is nowhere near as bitter and acidic (nor as profound) as DECONSTRUCTING HARRY (1997), the last film of Allen's to address these issues head-on.
Woody plays a sage/mentor to a young comedy writer who's trying to write a dark, existential novel. The writer, Jerry Falk (played by Jason Biggs of AMERICAN PIE fame), is saddled with a clinging manager (Danny DeVito), who keeps using inappropriate (but amusing) Garment Center metaphors, and is mired in a hopeless relationship with Amanda, a whirlwind of a young woman who sucks people into her life and then treats them badly. Played to perfection by Christina Ricci, Amanda is smart, seductive, and clearly exciting to be around, but is a bundle of deadly neuroses that will take a lifetime to untangle. We see her future self reflected in her narcissistic, childlike mother (Stockard Channing in a wonderful comic supporting performance), who comes to stay with the couple early in the film.
It's all about Jerry coming to grips with who he is, what he wants to do, and what it will take for him to get there. And it's Woody, playing a schoolteacher near retirement age who wants to tackle a comedy writing career late in life for himself, who serves as the catalyst for Jerry. Thus, the movie encapsulates, in, perhaps, an overly tidy fashion, the broad advice Woody wants to dispense to the younger members of his audience. While it's occasionally cartoonish and sometimes veers narrowly toward the heavy-handed, it also gives us a more confident and lively Woody, one who is freed from the self-imposed demands of being the romantic lead. Overall, it's a delightful, charming, funny and genuinely touching film which not only makes very good use of its young stars, but also of its writer-director-co-star-turned elder statesman. -
Christian_Dimartino24 February 2010In a few of Woody Allen's films, he teaches us a lesson. Here, Allen teaches us a good lesson: It's never good to cheat on people. As you see in this film, Anything else. Allen also has a way of changing genres as the movie goes. Like with my favorite Allen film, Match point. It starts off as a romance, then turns into a drama, then a suspense. Well, he doesn't exactly do that here, but he still does a good film.
I am not that fond of Jason Biggs. That is the main reason why I didn't believe that this would be a good film. The only reason. Allen usually does great movies. Usually, I can't give any of his movies less than a 9. Cause they are usually that good. What's weird is that I think that his newer stuff is a little better.
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed Annie Hall, but I have to say that it's a little overrated. Manhattan was terrific. I really enjoyed Broadway Danny Rose too. I also really liked Mighty Aphrodite too. But Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Match point are one of my top three favorites.
Anything else is the story of a man named Jerry Faulk(played by Jason Biggs). He writes skits for comedians. Him and his crazy friend(played by Woody Allen).Allen is funny as usual. Jerry, one day, meets his friends girlfriend(played by Christina Ricci) and the two fall madly in love.
His problem is that he can't say no to anyone or end it with them. But he's together with her for a while. They both cheated on their lovers from the past. And eventually he realizes that he has made a mistake.
I really liked this movie. I don't really like Jason Biggs, but here he's actually not that bad. But he isn't a good person. Christina Ricci is actually a bit of a bitch, which is a little different. I forgot to mention another great actor in this movie. Danny Devito is very funny as Jerry's manager who he doesn't need or like but can't get rid of him.
Allen is a great director. After only seeing ten of billions of his films, I am very convinced. Alright, he might be an atheist pervert but he's a genius actor and director. And like all of his films, you've got to see this one.
Note: I actually have two accounts. The other automatically logged me out and I didn't remember the password. My other account is also Sirus the virus. But really I don't know who cares. -
giblanco9 November 2005Allen is not like anything else. His characters either. Even when he wants to do a "normal people" story (and that would be... always). Or maybe the problem is ours. We are so paranoiac that we have a hard time believing his paranoiac and nervous characters. They are too real to be true. Adam Sandler got his best feature in this one. Christina Ricci is perfect for the part (she is always perfect, isn't she? Maybe it's all about her total lack of perfection...)
In this "comedy" (in which you will not laugh too much, but maybe even cry a bit), Allen tells the story of two comedians who don't really tell jokes or funny stories. They write them so other people can tell, but you will not see somethings really funny coming out of their mouths. Except for their own feelings, fears and dreams. Could that be comedy? From some point of view, yes, it could. And so my life. And yours. At the most natural way. A very dramatic comedy. Just like anything else. Allen knows how to do it. -
purplerose1128 September 2003The viewing public no longer judges Woody Allen films for what they are. There were posts badmouthing this flick before it ever came out, just because people don't like Woody. It was even worse with critics; very few of them judged Anything Else as its own entity. It didn't measure up to Annie Hall. Well, newsflash! Annie Hall is one of those gems that holds a place in Woody's top ten. He may never make a picture of that quality again...and that isn't a bad thing. I look forward to each year with the knowledge that a Woody Allen film will be released, and though he may not make a Purple Rose of Cairo-quality film every time, I know that a mediocre Woody Allen film is much better than most other films in theaters. Anything Else was not one of Woody's best, but I would rather sit through it one thousand times before I would watch a piece of garbage like Cold Creek Manor again.
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mikes20019 April 2010I was in a Christina Ricci craze for a while and was trying to catch many of her movies. This movie ended that phase. Boy was this bad. I wasn't even going to waste time writing a review, as I felt cheated enough with the time spent viewing, but then I saw all of the 10's that this movie received. Huh? Everything about this movie is bad - the script, the jokes, the acting. Even NYC!?!? I can see why Woody Allen has had success with recent movies that are not set in New York as the New York in this movie looks like it's from another planet. Jason Biggs performance in American Pie is like Citizen Kane compared to this movie. In case I didn't mention it already, this movie is bad. Avoid at all costs. Avoid especially if you're a Woody Allen, Christina Ricci or Jason Biggs fan as your estimation of each of them will only go down.
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gaonick26 February 2006This film is one of Woody's best. Basically is it criticised by people who don't like Woody Allen for being like all the others, or by people that do like him because it's not quite his usual story line. The only weakness is that Jason Biggs is not quite up to the task, and looks a little lacking in confidence in places. Christina Ricci is excellent as ever, and Woody does a great job playing the eccentric old man, a role that is much more appropriate to his age than many he has attempted to play since he became middle aged (20+ years ago!).
This is packed with interesting views on life, great jokes (not Woody's usual repetition of the same jokes like the "polymorphously perverse" line) and touching reflections on relationships.
Highly recommended. -
valadas21 February 2010The most important feature of Woody Allen's movies are their dialogues. They are full of wit and lots of humour sometimes too. Through them we understand what's going on almost without looking at the images. His movies deal with everyday urban life of the middle class intellectuals, artists, writers, etc. with all their love, sex and professional problems in a way that is apparently superficial but with lots of psychological human truth anyway despite the fact of some episodes being really funny even when they seem dramatic. This movies tells us a story of a young writer who tries to lead a normal life but is prevented of doing so by a crazy older friend (Woody Allen himself) who acts as an adviser but who keeps getting him into trouble with his advices, a crazy girlfriend who has a somewhat irregular notion of love and sex life besides an heterodox behaviour and last but not least his girlfriend's mother who comes to live with them thus increasing the mess his life is turning into. All characters involved are very well presented and the performers do a great job.
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Simply terrible film from Woody Allen, perhaps the worst he ever made, challenging "Shadows and Fog" and "September" for that dubious honor.
Allen's biggest mistake was in casting Jason Biggs as his central character. Biggs is just about as unappealing as actors come, and he's at his most unappealing when he's being asked to be Allen's stand in and deliver the neurotic Jew routine that's really only funny when Allen does it himself. He's not given a tremendous amount of help by Christina Ricci, ordinarily an actress I like but who's hampered by an uncharacteristically boring screenplay. Even in my least favorite Allen films, there's usually a joke or two or a sight gag that I remember, but "Anything Else" has absolutely nothing to recommend it.
Grade: F -
coolcricket25 September 2003This expertly done film has the marketed trappings of a romantic comedy, but as usual the advertising is misleading. "Anything Else" is not a light romp or a gentle farce like some may expect. This is a dark and funny look at today's selfish, chaotic and often violent world. It's about the uncertainty of intention; it's about trusting one's instincts over the words and appearances of others, and it's about learning to survive on one's own. Woody Allen pulls no punches and follows things through to their inevitable end, even allowing his own supporting character to rage blindly and possibly wrongly against the all-encompassing hatred he sees everywhere he goes. Soaked in fecund greens, New York City stands in for the unknown, wild and indifferent jungle (with Central Park as its heart). So it is no coincidence that Woody drives a bright red Porsche that roars like an animal; and it is particularly apt that the car he demolishes out of rage and a sense of justice is green.
Yet the filmmaker allows this kind of paranoia to be suspect. He challenges the fruition of distrusting everyone--even though in many cases throughout the film, the bitterness, rejection and anger are warranted.
Many critics dismiss "Anything Else" as old jokes rehashed or even "unwatchable." I'm not sure what film they saw. I wanted to go back in the moment it ended. Yes, Woody revisits the themes of his previous films. He is an artist. Love and death, infidelity and sex are his motifs. Nobody throws out Hitchcock's later films because they were once again about the wrong man or some guy with a crazy mother. This is a cerebral, subversive movie. It has its one-liners and its rhythm of performance, complete with incredulous stuttering by Jason Biggs and a whiny Christina Ricci as an inscrutable actress. But the film is fresh and strong and--as typical of original art--completely underrated. -
chill-458 June 2005When Woody Allen did stand-up in the 1960s, you could tell he was having fun. When he played broad physical comedy in early 1970s films like Bananas, Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex, and Sleeper, he was hilarious and it sure looked like he was having fun.
In later and recent films, the closest he comes to fun is usually sardonic wit, and surrogate Woodys like Jason Biggs (who does a masterly imitation of the trademark stammer) under Allen's direction come across as younger old (sour) Woodys, not young younger (fun-loving) Woodys.
So a lot of the fun is gone. In its place are more speeches and stagecraft, but also longer (and more fruitful) thoughts. Anything Else deploys familiar bedroom-farcical situations and characters, but it uses them to explore the dynamics of self-confidence. This exploration is the longer thought and pervading theme of the film. Initially Dobel (played by Allen) is a supremely confident mentor to Falk (Biggs). By the end of the film, Falk, under Dobel's prodding, has become self-confident enough to make a clean break from the life he knows; whereas Dobel has gotten himself into a situation where he appears completely insecure.
Is self-confidence entirely situational? Can a person who always tries to please act ethically? As the film approaches its end, Allen's script becomes increasingly sharp, with many memorable lines and phrases. Woody seems to be using film the way Alexander Pope used poetry in an earlier age. In Anything Else, as in some other films, he seeks to discover and explore the nature and meaning of an ethical life where another thoughtful director might use the same premise to analyze social behavior or plumb depths of character.
People who are open to film as musing and meditation on a serious issue may well find Anything Goes even more rewarding on its third watching than on its first. -
i2ambler20027 October 2009While I enjoy some Woody Allen movies for his neurotic characters and basic existential themes - I am no fanboy. He seemed to be trying SO hard to throw in references to make sure it was "woody" enough. I was just waiting for there to be a mention of Satre, and I wasn't disappointed.. None, absolutely none, of these characters were enjoyable to me. While they resembled many other characters from Woody's previous films, they didn't have the charm of so many of his other characters. Biggs was a wimp.. but not in a cute way, more in a disgusting spineless idiot manner. Ricci was a "lost soul" like so many of the women in Allen's films.. But it seemed more like she was a soul who was driven to take advantage of those around her, with no feelings for anyone but herself. The mother was an extension of Ricci's character (annoyingly entitled and self-absorbed). So many of the themes seemed to be just thrown together in a disjointed stew. The entire survivalist thing.. was just out of place.
In all, after wasting almost two hours of my time on this movie, I wanted to put the DVD through the shredder. If this movie was by ANYONE other than Woody Allen - there would be very little positive reaction to this crap..