Anything Else (2003)

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer (WGA):

Woody Allen (written by)

Release Date:

19 September 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

In any relationship, one person always does the heavy lifting

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Writer | New York City | Love At First Sight | Sex | Teacher

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Anything else, la vie et tout le reste (France)
La vie et tout le reste (France)
Woody Allen Spring Project 2002 (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA | France | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

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

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Brazil:14 | Finland:K-7 | Germany:o.Al. | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:7 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Australia:MA | Iceland:12 | France:U | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Astoria, Long Island City, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Canal+

Trivia:

This is loosely based on Woody Allen's experiences of being a young comic writer, he married young, and met and older man who taught him a lot about life, comedy, philosophy, and was institutionalized.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Falk types on his laptop computer, the number of (enlarged) typed lines alternates between at least five or six in close-up and just two or three at a distance.

Quotes:

David Dobel: [about the Swarthy guy] He looked at us and said to the other guy "Jews start all wars."

Movie Connections:

References À bout de souffle (1960)

Soundtrack:

I Can't Get Started

Decent Enough

Anything Else is a decent enough Woody Allen movie, with nice cinematography and some decent acting, but it definitely isn't anything unique or mind-blowing. It is quite flawed, but despite this, is still quite enjoyable.

It starts off a bit bland, with mediocre dialogue and a boring slow pace, but it eventually picks up and goes into typical Woody as Godard territory (long takes and such). It's quite obvious that he's trying to regain his Annie Hall glory, but he isn't nearly there with this.

Problems: The dialogue feels forced and un-natural a lot of the time. Jason Biggs doesn't seem comfortable with the character he is playing (although he's charming enough, the character needs to be more Woody Allen, so charming isn't exactly the way to go). Christina Ricci is pretty and all, but not the best actor in the universe, and she seems really wooden at times. The plot (or lack of plot as it were) is completely a repeat of Annie Hall, and even contains some direct rip-offs (Nazi paranoia, cocaine, etc.).

But with all these problems, I still quite enjoyed it. Jason Biggs, while maybe not being right for the part, is a decent guy to watch. Danny DeVito kicks ass as usual. Woody Allen is incredibly entertaining to watch, and I like his character quite a bit. The quirky pointless asides are sometimes funny, sometimes pointless. And I dig the cinematography a lot. It's simple but effective, and the long takes are always great.

Overall, it's decent enough to watch if you want a Woody Allen fix, but I'd rather watch Stardust Memories.

B-