Review

Jerry Falk (Biggs) is an up-and-coming young comedy writer (with seemingly unlimited financial resources) caught in the throes of anxiety, romantic complications and professional crises -- all handled with a little bit of pessimism, a dash of philosophy and a whole lot of one-liners. Sound like anyone we know? Writer-director Allen, thankfully abandoning the recently uncomfortable role of romantic lead, passes the torch to young Biggs in this funny comedy that borrows themes from a few of Woody's best works but nevertheless possesses an air of freshness and is quite engaging. Sharing an apartment but not sexual relations with his actress/bohemian girlfriend, Amanda (Ricci), Jerry is uncertain of many aspects of his life, especially Amanda's fidelity and his manager's (DeVito) competence. He comes to rely on the advice and extraneous comic musings of his new friend Dobel (Allen), a 60-ish schoolteacher testing the waters of comedy writing. As Jerry attempts to sort out his life, Woody sets right a few prior cinematic missteps, returning to the kind of romantic comedy that has served him best. The film moves at a breezy pace, the lines are funny and even memorable, and the characters are his most appealing in quite a few years. Anything Else is Woody the way we like him -- smart, humorous and sarcastic and all packaged in that New York state of mind.

 -- David Bleiler