Anything Else - 2003

At the very end of Annie Hall, the Alvy Singer reveals that his handling of the unfortunate outcome of his romantic affair with Annie: He writes a play about the doomed relationship, which we briefly see - two youthful actors going speaking canned lines to each other on a small stage. The 2003 movie Anything Else is as if Allen took that canned dramatic play of a play, and expanded it into a full length movie. And because it seems like a facsimile of a copy of a copy, it's difficult to take seriously.

There are a number of ingredients which a pretty good: Christina Ricci invigorates an even-more-neurotic-than-usual variation on the classic neurotic woman, is musically played out metaphorically through spoken and musical references to cursed jazz diva Billie Holiday.

Frustratingly, comedy writer Jerry Falk (Jason Biggs from American Pie) is madly in love with Ricci, who spends the entire 108 minutes of the movie refusing to see the obvious, much less take advice from anyone about his bad choices. Ricci blew everyone's socks off playing the screwed-up teenager in The Opposite of Sex), and Biggs is quite handsome. But despite a worthy secondary cast, these two are unable to rise to the levels required to believably carry the trials and tribulations of a romantically doomed, yet funny Woody Allen movie couple.

Allen himself appears playing an older writer named Dobel, who functions as Falk's self-appointed muse. Spewing forth anecdotes and classic jokes. he encourages him to break free of Amanda and his clinging agent (Danny DeVito). But it's pretty obvious throughout where everything is headed.

The pace is sluggish, although finally about three-fourths of the way through the movie, the story starts to feel fresher and more compelling, but by then it's arguably too late.

Other notable cast members include Jimmy Fallon, whose complete face barely appears in any screenshot if you watch this movie in pan and scan, which is the version HBO enjoys showing. Stockard Channing does a great job playing Amanda's aging, insecure mother, who naturally is an older version of her impossible daughter.