Simply terrible film from Woody Allen, perhaps the worst he ever made, challenging "Shadows and Fog" and "September" for that dubious honor.
Allen's biggest mistake was in casting Jason Biggs as his central character. Biggs is just about as unappealing as actors come, and he's at his most unappealing when he's being asked to be Allen's stand in and deliver the neurotic Jew routine that's really only funny when Allen does it himself. He's not given a tremendous amount of help by Christina Ricci, ordinarily an actress I like but who's hampered by an uncharacteristically boring screenplay. Even in my least favorite Allen films, there's usually a joke or two or a sight gag that I remember, but "Anything Else" has absolutely nothing to recommend it.
Grade: F
Allen's biggest mistake was in casting Jason Biggs as his central character. Biggs is just about as unappealing as actors come, and he's at his most unappealing when he's being asked to be Allen's stand in and deliver the neurotic Jew routine that's really only funny when Allen does it himself. He's not given a tremendous amount of help by Christina Ricci, ordinarily an actress I like but who's hampered by an uncharacteristically boring screenplay. Even in my least favorite Allen films, there's usually a joke or two or a sight gag that I remember, but "Anything Else" has absolutely nothing to recommend it.
Grade: F