Anything Else (2003)

Jerry Falk (Jason Biggs) learns a lesson the hard way when he falls in love with a beautiful but flighty girl, Amanda (Christina Ricci).

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer:

Woody Allen

Stars:

Woody Allen, Jason Biggs, Christina Ricci

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
KaDee Strickland	...	Brooke
Jimmy Fallon	...	Bob Stiles
Diana Krall	...	Diana Krall
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

Jerry Falk (Jason Biggs) and David Dobel (Woody Allen), who meet at a business meeting, become fast friends. Their commonality is that they are both fledgling New York City based comedy writers, largely writing material for stand-ups, are Jewish (although David is an atheist), and are each of bundle of different neuroses. Their big difference is that Jerry is twenty-one, while David is sixty, with forty more years worth of life experience, knowledge, and neuroses. While Jerry writes full time - he is also working on a novel - David has kept his day job as a public school teacher just in case. In their relationship, David becomes somewhat of Jerry's mentor, providing advice on Jerry's life issues, most which revolve around the fact that Jerry is a product of inertia, having trouble leaving anyone. That's why Jerry's still with the only manager he's ever had, Harvey Wexler (Danny DeVito). Jerry not only being Harvey's only client (which is a testament to his effectiveness in the job), ...

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Plot Keywords:

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

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Taglines:

In any relationship, one person always does the heavy lifting

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The joke that Woody Allen tells about the prize fighter in the boxing ring was also used in Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989).

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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.

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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...

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Helen Hunt/Jesse Eisenberg/My Morning Jacket (2015)

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Soundtracks

I Can't Get Started
Written by Vernon Duke & Ira Gershwin
Performed by Lester Young
Courtesy of The Verve Music Group
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

The annual Allen movie

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.

Details

Country:

USA France UK

Language:

English Latin

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 USA:

$1,673,125, 21 September 2003

Gross USA:

$3,212,310

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$13,585,075

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks, Gravier Productions, Canal+

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1