Droll word master and skilled director Woody Allen has reached an
age when the dating and relationship insecurities of youth have become
inappropriate to project on his self-imposed roles. Instead, he now
projects quirky neuroses on the younger members of his casts. In
Anything Else, that would be Jerry Falk, played with unexpected
sensitivity by Jason Biggs of less subtle American Pie fame, and a
self-absorbed woman named Amanda, played by Christina Ricci with a
deft comedic flare.
Jerry has particular trouble with
separating; consequently, he finds himself victimized by anyone that
perceives his weakness. Jerry is an aspiring comedy writer, struggling
to get his career started, and he's burdened by remarkably incompetent
representation. His agent, Harvey (Danny DeVito), seems to be a failed
clothing salesman who lives at home with his ancient mother. Jerry is
his only client. Their three year contract in which Jerry is required
to pay over twenty-five percent of his income is about to end.
Despite Harvey's incompetence and the outrageous pay schedule, Jerry
can't seem to muster the will to fire the boob. Jerry does
have a knack for attracting attractive women. He's living with a
lovely blonde, Brooke (Kadee Strickland), who wants to get married.
But when Jerry and Brooke join another couple for dinner, Jerry is
instantaneously smitten with his friend's date, Amanda. Flirting
quickly evolves into passionate rutting, but even though Jerry is
falling hard for Amanda, he can't bring himself to tell Brooke.
Brooke, being no fool herself, saves him the trouble; love bites
reveal the truth. With Brooke departed, Amanda moves in, and Jerry's
life takes remarkable turn.
Amanda is an aspiring actress,
utterly devoid of empathy or sensitivity (which doesn't bode well for
her chosen career). Jerry tolerates her outrageous eccentricities.
She's always late, she's horribly inconsiderate, she pops diet pills
even as she binges, he disapproves of her smoking, and her alcoholic
mother Paula (Stockard Channing) moves into his tiny apartment after
her most recent relationship fails. All of these misgivings are
overlooked for love; he even tolerates Amanda's sudden inability to
have sex with him, a dry spell that extends for months. 
Jerry
is seeing a psychiatrist (William Hill), but even that relationship is
unsatisfying. The shrink simply sits and listens, never counsels, and
insists that his expensive analysis isn't complete. Jerry turns for
help to David Dobel (Woody Allen), a very bright high school teacher
with an overdeveloped vocabulary and a penchant for advice punctuated
by a joke. (Jerry also complains directly to the audience, breaking
the fourth wall. ) David, too, has ambitions of becoming a
comedy writer. He and Jerry frequently meet in Central Park to discuss
life and Jerry's problems in particular. David is a closet
survivalist with a closet full of weapons and a touch of paranoia.
Yet, his observations about relationships and his career advice are
most often surprisingly sound. David encourages Jerry to fire his
agent, dump Amanda - who he believes is unfaithful - and move to
California where he's lined up a team writing gig for them. How Jerry
deals with his frustrations and conflicts is the essence of the
film.
Allen's dialog is better here than in his last few
film's. Christina Ricci, who frequently is attracted to dark roles, is
delightful as the girlfriend from hell. She made me positively
cringe. (Come on guys, we've all had relationships with at least one
of those monsters; mine was named Lynne. ) Biggs offers his most
subdued and effective interpretation of a character. He simultaneously
internalizes and projects growing frustration and desperation. While
he isn't as overt as Kenneth Branagh's Lee Simon was in Celebrity,
imitating Woody Allen's vocal patterns and body language, Biggs is
clearly an Allen surrogate. Allen has written another wonderfully
droll character for himself; unsurprisingly nihilistic, he dwells on
Nazis and death as he prepares for the worst. His character is
unexpectedly dark, yet remains quite amusing.
Video: How
Does The Disc Look?
The film's theatrical aspect of 2.35:1
is presented in anamorphic video. The image is ever so slightly soft;
perhaps it was low passed to reduce the bit rate. Consequently, fine
textures are a bit subdued. Small object detail is quite good; facial
features in long shots remain nicely recognizable. Edge halos are
present, but they are of low amplitude (and low frequency - they're
moderately thick) and so rarely intrude. Colors are very natural,
based on flesh tones. You'll notice that the palette changes somewhat
as the action moves indoors. Exterior scenes have a very neutral color
palette, but as the camera moves to an artificially lit interior, the
images take on a subtle yellowish cast. Brightness and contrast are
fine and the shadow detail is reasonably good. This is a nice
transfer, but not up to the best DVD has to offer. 
Audio:
How Does The Disc Sound?
It's with mixed feelings that I
report that this is a typical Woody Allen track; it's presented in
Dolby Digital 1.0 monaural. There is no score. When Allen wishes to
add a little underscore, it's from a source track that was recorded
many decades ago. Sound effects are not an issue; I suspect that much
of the sound was recorded practically, but may contain some Foley.
The all-important dialog remains distortion-free throughout.
Subtitles are available in English, French, and Spanish.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
As is also typical
of a Woody Allen DVD, there are virtually no extras. I was surprised
to find Production Notes that spanned several screens and actually
included quotes from Ricci, Biggs, and Allen. Cast and Crew Bios are
also offered. The 109-minute feature is organized into twenty
chapters.
DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the
disc in your PC?
There are no ROM extras on the disc.
Parting Thoughts
This is a stylistic return to some
of Woody Allen's earlier, quirkier tales. The film isn't as good as
his best, but the tone is more similar to Annie Hall than anything
he's done since. The film delves into relationships that are destined
for painful fates, but not without amusing us along the way. The
transfer is quite decent, the monaural sound quite retro, and as is
typical for Allen's DVDs, the supplements are mighty thin. Yet, for
the entertainment value alone, it might be worth a spin.
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