Rent Anything Else (2003)

Neurotics in Love - Anything Else review by griggs

Woody Allen revisits familiar ground — neurotic love, creative frustration, and Manhattan looking its best — but a younger cast gives it a faint hint of freshness. Jason Biggs does a convincing Allen impression without it becoming parody, while Christina Ricci brings real spark to a role that could’ve been pure chaos in lesser hands.

The dialogue is, as ever, sharp and self-loathing in equal measure. Everyone sounds clever, miserable, and slightly in love — which is probably the point. There’s warmth in the cynicism, and a surprising tenderness beneath all the wisecracks.

It’s not Allen’s best, nor his worst. Anything Else ambles along agreeably enough, like a chat with an old friend who repeats himself but still makes you laugh. You’ve heard it before, but you don’t entirely mind hearing it again.

Critical Nadir. - Anything Else review by Steve

 This fascinating, garrulous comedy took an energetic critical beating and doesn't start well, with Woody Allen telling an anecdote he'd already shared a decade earlier. Jason Biggs plays a 21 year old surrogate Woody, a writer of stand up material troubled by a complicated (and celibate) relationship with a sexy, high maintenance actor expertly portrayed by Christina Ricci.

The plot is further tangled when her mother (Stockard Channing) moves in, and proves to be just as unstable and self absorbed. Biggs' mentor is Woody himself, a relentless pessimist with sociopathic tendencies, who is preparing for society's end of days, while also attempting to break into comedy...

 Biggs directly addresses the camera, like Woody did in Annie Hall. Which is still fun. It doesn't date the film because the devise is still so widely copied. The conversations between the two wannabe comedians at the opposite ends of life are funny and interesting. Ricci has a potent erotic presence which makes Biggs' obsession with this human incendiary believable.

It's essentially a conversation between Woody and his much younger self. Some may find that self indulgent, but there are many really howling comedy moments, such as when Biggs tries to break with his agent (Danny DeVito). Maybe the cynicism dismayed its critics , but this is so dense with fantastic lines that perhaps its time will come.