Anything Else

A young writer, struggling with various dysfunctional relationships in his life, receives advice from an eccentric mentor.

Anything Else is a great movie. Like Swingers, it’s really a romantic comedy for guys, and as such is a rarity. Movies like this tend not to do well because studios aren’t sure how to market them. Let me make it easy for them: this is a movie about that girl. The girl that walks all over you, and you let her because you can’t say no. This is a movie any guy can relate to.

And what a movie it is. The script is great, with believable dialog and perfect characterization. Director Woody Allen wisely regulates his own character to supporting status, while playing him in an over-the-top manner that’s almost a caricature of himself. The result is that he manges to take the “Woody Allen” character, and make it funny and relevant again.

Jason Biggs and Christina Ricci have a believable chemistry, and Biggs is charismatic in the lead, but this is Ricci’s movie. This movie wouldn’t have worked with anyone besides her. Not only is she required to play a wide range, but she has to charm the audience into liking her, despite all her character’s shortcomings. The crux of the story revolves around the viewer believing that Jason Biggs’s character would actually put up with Christina Ricci’s character’s behavior, thus requiring Ricci’s character to be attractive and charming. Ordinarily I hate movies like this because I’m frustrated with the main character’s inability to stand up for himself against a pretty woman, but in this case I’m with him.