2003 / 108 Minutes / R
Reviewed by Dale Nauertz

I know what you’re all wondering: is there any pie screwing in the latest Woody Allen film? Well, I have seen this film and I can attest that, no, not a single pie (apple or otherwise) has been defiled or mistreated in any way, despite the presence of Jason Biggs.

If you’ve seen a poster or an ad for “Anything Else”, you might not even know that it IS a Woody Allen film. The posters and ads emphasize the likenesses of Jason Biggs and Christina Ricci, with barely a mention toward The Woodster. Apparently, a Woody Allen film isn’t the box office draw that it used to be. Not enough car chases and explosions, I guess, for your average modern moviegoer. Maybe if he were to work his dense philosophical observations and hilarious one-liners into some kind of framework that involves a Colombian drug deal or a troop of vampires or maybe some undead pirates, maybe then he’d have found the formula for turning his straw into box office gold. But thank God he hasn’t, I say. Thank God Woody has stuck by his guns and maintained his artistic integrity. If you’ve seen one Woody Allen movie, you usually know what you’re in for. But, thank goodness, you usually know that it’s going to be something of quality.

“Anything Else” is the first film in a long time that I can actually identify with. Yes, “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” is a grand, exhilarating bit of cinema. But I, for one, have never faced members of a Mexican drug cartel after having my eyes gouged out. I have, however, been in a relationship with a woman that was driving me completely insane, and yet I never quite felt like ending it. And I can recognize the notes that this film hits and, occasionally, nod my head and smile as I acknowledge the film hitting on some very fundamental truths. This latest Woody Allen film is basically about the ups and downs of loving a woman who drives you crazy, and not crazy in that “head over heels in love” sort of way. Instead, I’m talking about crazy in the “wondering where you could hide the body” sort of way. Except that Jason Biggs is actually in love with the woman in this movie. I could never quite get in love with the woman who was driving me insane. She was just driving me TOO crazy. But I’ve been in love before (so I think) with people who drove me crazy for other reasons, and I have been in situations where it would have been much easier if I weren’t in love with someone, if I could just turn around and walk away from them and not have to worry about the fact that they were making me insane. So I can relate to the movie on that level, as well. In fact, I think that most people probably can.

And this is the reason that I love this movie. I can relate to it. Sure, it’s specifically a Woody Allen film: there are the usual jokes about Jews and therapy and nazis, that much is just going to be a given. But it’s about relationships and exploring why they are wonderful in small doses and maddening as a whole. Not that this is virgin territory, by any means, but it is a nice little niche and Woody Allen makes it work better than just about anyone else in modern cinema. There are many who aspire to make these sorts of movies, and with occasional success (I’m thinking mainly of Kevin Smith) but when it comes right down to it, Woody is the king and no substitutes should be accepted. He attacks the subject with a level of wit and sophistication and a respect for the intelligence of the viewer that guys like Kevin Smith probably never even think about. This movie is a return of form for Woody. His past couple films have been just a little too gimmicky for my taste. “Curse of the Jade Scorpion” had a great premise but never really made it fly and “Hollywood Ending” just seemed a bit too dumb. But here we have Woody exploring the inner workings of a complex relationship and, tangentially, the fact that a person must get a better handle on themselves before they can make anything work with another person. Again, this is a rather simple and even routine sort of subject, but there is nothing simple or routine about Woody’s observations, which give the viewer food for thought long after the film has drawn to a close.

Plus, the film is mostly hilarious. It’s got a bittersweet tone to it as well and it does not go for the easy cop-out ending (Woody Allen films never have, as far as I recall). Woody is the only man making romantic comedies that don’t necessarily end with a wedding, or a man trying to catch a plane to confess his love to his significant other (and can we retire that cliché, for God’s sake, it’s getting extremely old). It’s one of the many reasons that I respect Woody as a filmmaker and as one of the nation’s finest humorists. I also respect him because he picks excellent casts and guides them all to amazing performances. Those who think of Jason Biggs merely as a pie-humper will find him a revelation here. His performance is very believable. I didn’t think of “American Pie” once the entire time I was watching the film. I also loved the work of Christina Ricci as the woman driving Biggs mad. She was nearly perfect in this role, inhabiting it with all the maddening grace and charm that women so often possess. But it is Woody himself that should get an Academy Award nomination here. He’s actually playing someone other than Woody Allen: he’s a borderline psychotic wannabe comedy writer and grade-school teacher who befriends Biggs and constantly enlightens him with his own eccentric views on life. It’s a great performance that should remind people that Woody is a great actor as well as an excellent writer and director. The man is a triple threat. And he’s got some of the funniest dialogue I’ve heard in years.

I know I’m probably screaming into the void on this one, but give “Anything Else” a chance. There are no vampires or werewolves or drug deals gone sour; just a simple exploration of the nature of human relationships (and, hell, human life in all its various facets) that is laugh-out-loud funny. Take a break from the glossy effects movies and let this film wash over you. Your brain might just thank you for it.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 19th, 2003 at 5:32 pm and is filed under Dale's Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.