Review of Anything Else (2003) by Donald W — 26 Oct 2017

#woodyallenretro Podcast Project.

Absolutely noticeably gorgeous cinematography on display here, which from allen shouldn't be a surprise but a major step up from the last bunch of movies... story and characters on the other hand are seriously something to be desired, cast is well picked as always and Jason Biggs gets to step a bit out of his wheelhouse from the american teen nerd type, sadly ricci is an unlikeable cartoon character and devito is severly underused - allen himself is comepletely off the wall but probably the best thing in the movie and the overall story is frustrating, repetitive and you just don't feel or like anyone here... the ending moral is well - life and relationships can be crazy if you are a doormat with a psycho girlfriend / mother? - Allen has touched on relationships a myriad of times and those characters exibited realism and depth ala annie hall, manhattan, hannah and her sisters, husbands and wives, another woman, here it is misguided and unpleasant and feels pointless when all said and done - we wish he used this level of fantastic camerawork on earlier films like don't drink the water or curse of the jade scorpion - all in all left feeling irritated with the story and characters - these elements do not age well at all and sadly the relateable moments that were here done well were just taken to unpleasant exaggerations.