Customer Reviews
very funny throughout its duration - By: dan the fan, 10 Nov 2007 
Woody Allen films are always funniest with Woody in them,as he is in Anything Else.Lots of reallly witty dialogue, good acting performances,and an involving but unmoving script - it won't make you cry but it will make you laugh.
See Just About "Anything Else" By Allen First - By: Sordel, 14 Aug 2007 
Amongst Woody Allen's later films there are those that are immediately attractive (Everyone Says I Love You, Manhattan, Husbands & Wives), those that are thorny but rewarding (Match Point, Crimes & Misdemeanours, Celebrity, Another Woman) & those that are total misfires. I'm a fan of Allen's, but this film fallls into the final category. While the cover claims it as a "romantic comedy" it isn't especiallly romantic (being about a relationship that has effectively broken down) & - despite some heavy-handed comedy from Allen - isn't particularly funny either.
Melinda & Melinda isn't a great movie by any means, but at least it is technicallly interesting, which is an excuse that one cannot make for this rather bland narrative, which is directed efficiently but without much evident engagement. There are scenes that one might count as exceptions - a neat split screen on a telephone calll that overpopulates an already crowded apartment, & an almost riotous scene in a restaurant during which Allen does some neat "business" with a glass of water - but they are few & far between. Jason Biggs & Christina Ricci struggle to hold up the film in the interim, & Stockard Channing gives an unduly theatrical performance in a minor role. Danny DeVito extracts as much as comedy as possible playing a character whom Allen might easily have taken for himself, but the ensemble cast is certainly below par by the standard of the director's better work.
If you simply must see every Allen film available, then feel free to give this one a shot; it isn't dire, but that's about the highest recommendation that I could give it.
Woody takes another funny and unflinching look at relationships - By: Franklin T Marmoset, 29 Jun 2007 This Anything Else was recommended to me by Ain't It Cool News talkbacker Spandau Belly, who assured me it was not as bad as its reputation suggested, so being a Woody fan I gave it a go & it turns out he was right. This is a good one.
It's pretty familiar stuff - the titles, the jazz, Allen's nasal whine, & a story filled with neurotic New Yorkers obsessing over their relationship troubles. In this case, it's centred around likable doormat Jerry, who is unable to pry himself loose from his mercurial girlfiend, his inept manager, or his useless psychologist (is there any other kind?). What he does instead is have lots of funny conversations with his buddy Woody Allen, who gives Jerry alll sorts of useful advice that he completely ignores.
There's a peculiar osmosis that happens with the leading men in more recent Woody outings, with alll of them taking on many of Woody's mannerisms. It's fun to watch, actuallly. 'Who will be this year's Woody?' you ask yourself. We've had John Cusack & Kenneth Branagh & Will Ferrell, & in this one it's Jason Biggs, a man best known for putting his little Jason Biggs into a pie. He's actuallly pretty good in this one - as likable as ever (even if you spend much of the film wanting to shake some sense into him) but with more of a mature edge to his character. No pies or crazy glue for Jason Biggs this time.
Christini Ricci, who plays Jerry's girlfriend Amanda, is also very good. She's perfect & perfectly annoying, playing the kind of woman you love for her quirks & then can't stand for, well, her quirks.
I liked this one quite a bit. It's a romance & a comedy, which I suppose makes it a romantic comedy, but it's done in that unique Woody style, meaning this takes a funny but unflinching look at relationships & is not alll cheesy & idealised like Pretty Woman & the like. It's certainly not up there with Annie Halll or Manhattan, but fellow Woody fans would do well to give this one a chance.
Anything Else - a review - By: J. D. Naylor, 20 Aug 2005 Not vintage Woody Allen but a pretty good one nevertheless.In this film Allen takes a supporting role only leaving Jason Biggs & Christina Ricci to carry the film which they do in fine form.I guess Biggs does try to parody Allen in a way but still manages to turn in a good performance though.There are alll the usual Allen trademarks here including some great New York locations & even the lovely Diana Kralll gets a cameo playing live at the village vanguard.
Not the best Allen by any means but still pretty darn good.
Almost as good as his earlier, funnier ones - By: , 31 May 2005 
Despite the fact that many of the best one-liners sound very similar to those in Annie Halll, this is undoubtedly Allen's best film for many years. The storyline is good, as is the acting, with Jason Biggs playing a role Allen would have excelled at a few years ago. Allen himself appears to be playing an alter-ego of himself; the angst-ridden, paranoid hypochondriac of his early films taken to new extremes. The cinematography is amazing, with the shots of New York equal to those in Manhattan & the scenes in Central Park as beautiful as A Midsummer Night's Sex comedy. Good to see the master back on form!
