Anything Else (2003)

A contemporary romantic comedy set in New York city about the relationship between an older guy and his younger protege. The older guy guides the younger through a messy and hilarious love story.

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer:

Woody Allen

Stars:

Woody Allen, Jason Biggs, Danny DeVito

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Woody Allen	...	David Dobel
Jason Biggs	...	Jerry Falk
Fisher Stevens	...	Manager
Anthony Arkin	...	Pip's Comic
Danny DeVito	...	Harvey Wexler
Christina Ricci	...	Amanda Chase
KaDee Strickland	...	Brooke
Jimmy Fallon	...	Bob
Diana Krall	...	Herself
William Hill	...	Psychiatrist
Stockard Channing	...	Paula Chase
Maurice Sonnenberg	...	Movie Theater Patron
Kenneth Edelson	...	Hotel Desk Clerk
David Conrad	...	Dr. Phil Reed
Joseph Lyle Taylor	...	Bill

Storyline

In medias res: narrator Jerry Falk, a fledgling comedy writer with an inept agent, is about to celebrate an anniversary with his girlfriend Amanda. There's trouble in paradise: she's late (and has already eaten), she's been uninterested in sex for months, and her quixotic mother is moving in with them. Jerry looks back to meeting Amanda and dumping Brooke. A constant is his friendship with another wannabe comedy writer, a 60 year old teacher named David, prone to long walks and advice filled talks. As Amanda and Jerry's relationship founders and her mom's noisy presence makes writing difficult for him, he and David plan something different. Wouldn't anything else be better?

---

Plot Keywords:

writer | new york city | moving | love at first sight | teacher | 

---

Taglines:

In any relationship, one person always does the heavy lifting

---

Genres:

Comedy | Romance

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for a scene of drug use and some sexual references

Details

Official Sites:

Bac Films [France] Official site [Spain]

Country:

USA France UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 September 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Woody Allen Spring Project 2002

Filming Locations:

50 Commerce St, Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£39,149 (UK) (30 July 2004)

Gross:

£39,149 (UK) (30 July 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks SKG, Gravier Productions, Canal+

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

DTS (Mono) Dolby Digital (Mono) SDDS (Mono)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is only Woody Allen's second film to use the anamorphic widescreen process (scope 2:35:1) (the first being Manhattan).

---

Goofs

Jerry Falk refers to a baked cannoli when in fact cannoli shells are deep fried not baked. Perhaps, Woody Allen was thinking of cannelloni.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
David Dobel: You know, there's great wisdom in jokes, Falk, really. There's an old joke about a prizefighter who's in the ring, and he's getting killed, he's getting his brains beat out; and his mother's in the audience, and she's watching him getting beaten up in the ring, and there's a priest next to her, and she says 'Father, father, pray for him, pray for him!' The priest says 'I will pray for him, but if he could punch it would help!' There's more insight in that joke, into what I call the...

---

Connections

Referenced in The Knights of Prosperity: Operation: Ralph (2007)

---

Soundtracks

"Easy to Love"
Written by Cole Porter
Performed by Billie Holiday with Teddy Wilson & his Orchestra
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Biggs scary

I'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.