Anything Else

Being a huge fan of Woody Allen, it pangs me to say this was among the least enjoyable of his movies.
What was so bad about it? Well, there wasn't much of a story. It was more like a collection of scenes. All the pieces are there, but there is no movement. It's more like "this happens, then this happens, and this happens," but none of it goes anywhere.
Another problem I had with it was that it was, predictably, just another Allen movie about a bad relationship, but this one felt exceptionally toxic. Even though I am very used to the anxious/avoidant trap that is ever-present in his writing, this one just comes across as tonally wrong.
Allen's films tend to have an air of hope or finding the funny in the bad parts of life, however _Anything Else_ is more like a drama that wants to cling to humor as a crutch.
I thought Biggs, and Ricci, did a great job. I doubt different actors could have saved this.
After a while, I just stopped having fun watching this and it really became a psychology test I was taking. I spent more time trying to pin down all of the attachment issues, identify the red flags, and label the poor communication.
If you'd like to brush up on your couples-therapy skills, by all means...
The typical Woody Allen charm is missing here. Too long, too clunky. It needed to balance the drama and the humor better.

Anything Else is another typical Woody Allen romcom, with the usual insecure and neurotic main character, dealing with problems in a relationship.

I think it was the first time that I felt so annoyed by a Woody Allen film. I’ve seen a lot of his films and I really like Woody’s work. The way he writes and how the simplicity of his stories can be so engaging and interesting to watch. This story is like many others that Woody has written over the years but I think my main problem was with the leading actors. I could not connect with them.

Jason Biggs was a little bit annoying, he tried to act similarly to the way Woody acts but in my opinion not always successful. It seemed forced many times. I wasn't very happy with Christina Ricci’s overacting that also annoyed me. Woody Allen, himself always pleases me. I really like his unique way to perform, he simply makes me laugh. Danny DeVito also portrayed a very funny character.

Anything Else has the charm and cleverness that any Woody Allen film has but I think this time the cast was not wisely chosen.

Christina Ricci enough said :/ trash