A young artist struggling with his career and his muse is getting more than a little aggravation from Cupid in this romantic comedy written and directed by Woody Allen. Jerry Falk (Jason Biggs) is a promising 21-year-old comedy writer living in New York City. While Jerry has talent, he's having a hard time getting his career off the ground, which might have something to do with the fact his agent Harvey (Danny DeVito) is a well-meaning, but ineffectual, blowhard, and his mentor David Dobel
(Allen) is an increasingly paranoid eccentric whose twin careers as a teacher and standup comic are both floundering. Poised at the top of Jerry's mountain of anxieties is his relationship with his girlfriend Amanda (Christina Ricci); from the first moment he saw her, Jerry has been in love with her, but Amanda's multiple neuroses, fear of commitment, and frustrating intimacy issues make her all but impossible to be around. Jerry is approaching his breaking point when the small flat he shares with Amanda becomes home to a third roommate -- Amanda's mother Paula (Stockard Channing), who has decided to come to New York to chase her dream of becoming a cabaret singer. Anything Else also features supporting performances from Jimmy Fallon, William Hill, and jazz vocalist Diana Krall. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
None of this adds up to much of a movie; it's more like a filmed hodgepodge of not-fully- thought-out ideas and one-liners and small shards of jaundiced polemic.
Who knows what sense an American Pie-digging, Woodman-ignorant undergrad might make of the canned rhythms, the trilobite-era one-liners, the awkward declarative dialogue, the Catskills-resort frames of reference, the freshman philosophy.
"Anything Else" represents low ebb for the comic filmmaker famous for transmuting the work of Ingmar Bergman into New York centric comedies full of neurosis based humor.
The trouble is, Biggs is not nearly as good at this kind of role as Allen. For that matter, Allen is not very convincing as a gun-toting survivalist, either.
The script is quite entertaining as it plays with the idea of writing and artistic creation. But the plot itself is mildly annoying and seriously dull.
Seria ótimo se Allen passasse a dedicar mais tempo ao desenvolvimento de suas idéias. É melhor ver um bom filme a cada dois ou três anos do que sofrer uma decepção todo ano.
This wasn't very good. The story was bleah and the actors didn't seem to put out performances at all. I didn't care what happened to any of these people halfway through.
January 7, 2008
Jason Spencer
Super Reviewer
I dislike movies about seasoned pros imparting advice to wide-eyed proteges. In terms of Woody's oeuvre, there was too much didacticism and not enough heart...
No quotes approved yet for Anything Else. Logged in users can submit quotes.
Submit a Quote from 'Anything Else'
A quote can be a single line from one character or a memorable dialog between several characters. Please make your quotes accurate. Quotes will be submitted for approval by the RT staff.
Example:
Luke: Alright. I'll give it a try. Yoda: No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.
Top Critic
