Anything Else (2003)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Romantic Comedy	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2003
Running Time	104:08 (Case: 108)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Woody Allen
Studio Distributor	MGM	Starring	Jason Biggs Christina Ricci Woody Allen Stockard Channing Danny DeVito Kadee Strickland Jimmy Fallon Fisher Stevens Anthony Arkin Diana Krall William Hill Maurice Sonnenberg Kenneth Edelson
Case	?
RPI	Rental	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes, + drugs
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    I have now reviewed quite a few Woody Allen films for this site, mostly older films. As a fan of Woody's work generally, I was quite keen to take a look at this recent Woody Allen film which had really flown beneath my radar. Frankly, this is the least interesting of the films of his which I have reviewed. If you are a fan of Woody Allen this one is probably worth a look, however for non-fans or the uninitiated, watch something else first, like Sleeper. This one did not get a cinema release here and is being released first to the rental market. It was actually made two years ago.

    Anything Else is marketed as a 'hilarious romantic comedy'. The only one of the three words used here that I would agree with is that it is a comedy. It is more quirky than hilarious and not really very romantic at all, despite having a relationship at its core. Jerry Falk (Jason Biggs) is an aspiring comedy writer, once divorced, who has a friend and mentor in another older comedy writer, David Dobel (Woody Allen). He is in a relationship with a difficult to please and slightly strange struggling actress, Amanda Chase (Christina Ricci). Jerry is a bit of a doormat both with Amanda, his agent, Harvey (Danny De Vito) and even Amanda's mother when Amanda decides that she is coming to live with them. Dobel tries to get Jerry to stand up for himself, suggesting that he change things like his agent, his girlfriend and other things about his life. Dobel unfortunately is not necessarily the most sane man on the planet. The plot follows the relationships of both Jerry & Amanda and Jerry & David.

    You can tell you are watching a Woody Allen film from the opening credits as they are in his standard font on a black background with jazz playing over the top. The highlights of this film are the interactions between Jimmy & David, which include some good dialogue. Biggs is really just playing a younger version of Woody most of the time. As usual in a Woody Allen film, everyone is neurotic in some way or another. The relationship between Jerry and Amanda and his complete lack of ability to stand up for himself were quite difficult to understand. The film does end with a quirky little twist and David Dobel is certainly the most interesting character.

    If you like Woody Allen's films, this one might be worth a rent, but I find it hard to imagine wanting to watch it again.

Video

    The video quality is very good.

    The feature is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise. There was some very light grain in evidence. Shadow detail was good without being spectacular.

    The colour was very good, especially the greens of Central Park.

    The only noticeable artefact was some mild edge enhancement, such as at 39:20.

    There are subtitles in English for the hearing impaired. The English subtitles were clear and easy to read although somewhat summarised from the spoken word.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is average, especially for a new release.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync.

    The music used in this film is Woody's normal soundtrack of jazz standards.

    The surround speakers were not used.

    The subwoofer kicked into life in one scene at 58:30 but this was a result of my amp's bass management.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    None.

Menu

    The menu was still and silent and included the ability to select scenes and subtitles.

    This movie has recently been released in Region 1 in a very similar format. The differences are quite minor.

    The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;

• Production Notes

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;

• Nothing

    On this basis Region 1 wins but you might as well not bother.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is decent but mono.

    The disc has no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall