Anything Else | ||||
Woody Allen Jason Biggs, Christina Ricci, Woody Allen, Danny DeVito, Stockard Channing, Jimmy Fallon, Diana Krall 2003 |
Accolades and icon status aside, Woody Allen seldom means big box-office. And, as he reached Social Security eligibility, the actor, writer, director and proto-nebbish looked increasingly pathetic when flirting with much younger women in his comedies. Allen tries another approach in "Anything Else." He's still a fine director, and the script has its moments with amusing, angst-driven Woody-isms, but Allen takes a supporting role as mentor to an insecure man in his 20s: a Woody-in-training, well played by Jason Biggs of the randy, teen-oriented "American Pie" movies. So it makes more sense when the mega-neurotic leading lady, enacted by a seductive Christina Ricci, falls for Biggs' character, who isn't four decades older than she is. They might bring a more youthful audience to an Allen film. (Some of the trailers center on Biggs and Ricci, and don't mention or show Allen.) Biggs is Jerry, a Manhattan comedy writer with a dud agent (Danny DeVito), and Ricci is Amanda, a struggling actress he adores though she drives him crazy. It feels a little spent and familiar. Early in his career, Allen would've been Jerry, opposite Louise Lasser, and "Anything Else" would've been funnier. With Stockard Channing and Jimmy Fallon. | |||
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