Anything Else

Released 2003
Stars Jason Biggs, Christina Ricci, Woody Allen, Stockard Channing, Danny DeVito
Directed by Woody Allen

The dialogue in Woody Allen's "Anything Else" is an exercise of neurotic bravery, a defense against fear and insecurity. His characters are doubtful about their prospects in life. Careers aren't going well, and romance works only through self-deception. To hold despair at bay they talk and talk, and because Allen is a master of comic dialogue, it is our pleasure to listen.

The new movie has both a mentor and a narrator, so one character gives insights about life and the other gives insights about him. The hero is Jerry Falk (Jason Biggs), a would-be comedy writer whose career is going nowhere, and his advisor is David Dobel (Allen), a 60ish New Jersey school teacher whose career has gone nowhere; he hasn't stopped hoping, but he keeps the day job. They meet in the park for long talks, Dobel doing most of the talking, Jerry grateful at first and then dubious.

Summary by Roger Ebert

This movie doesn't add up to much, but it has some hilarious dialogue. There were many things that made me smile, and a bunch that made me laugh out loud. I'm happy to say Woody Allen still knows how to turn a phrase. I appreciated the fact that Jerry (Jason Biggs) wasn't a complete Woody Allen clone, because that can be quite irritating. We saw this most notably with Kenneth Branaugh in Celebrity, which didn't work at all. I think Jason Biggs worked to play this down, and it certainly helped. --Bill Alward, January 17, 2004