Hey folks, Harry here... Ok... so here's the thing... I desperately wanted to see this film, cuz I love Woody's flicks and think that Christina is meow wonderful... I decided to take an early afternoon nap, knowing that Father Geek would wake me for the film, when suddenly it is 8pm and the film has started across town and Dad is acting all... "You wanted to see the film with the Pie Fucker?" And I'm all... "It's a Woody Allen film!" and he's all... "REALLY?" ARGH!!!! So Dreamworks' plan to distance Woody's image from the advertising of the film resulted in me missing the film, cuz Papa-san thought it was some useless pie-fucker flick... Oh well, I'll gladly contribute to Woody's box office... Here's Quint...

Ahoy, squirts. The crustiest of the crusty seamen, Quint, here with a short look at Woody Allen's newest flick out of Dreamworks starring Jason Biggs, Christina Ricci and Allen himself.  

Very quickly, I consider myself a fan of Woody's films, but a fan that came to his work rather late. I didn't much care for his films as a child and teenager (SLEEPER was the only one I remember enjoying) and avoided his work. Then, a few years ago, I decided to give him another try and luckily for me I saw these two films: MANHATTAN and THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO, which are today my favorite films he has done.  

I also rented LOVE AND DEATH, BANANAS, MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY and a few others. I liked most of them, but none of them stood up to MANHATTAN in terms of love story and PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO in terms loving film. Although, I must admit... I'm rather embarrassed about this... but I still haven't seen ANNIE HALL... I just remember as a kid having a deep rooted dislike for the title because it was the movie that beat out STAR WARS for best picture. I'm doing my best to overcome and see the film, which I have no doubt will blow me away.  

Allen's new flick, ANYTHING ELSE goes back to what Allen does best... Dysfunctional relationships. Dysfunctional to Nth degree. Here we have Jason Biggs in the first starring role that actually shows he has some acting ability (it could be that Allen does a lot of close-ups in this film, so we can actually see into his eyes... instead of the farther away shots that make it look like he has a blank stare).

Biggs is essentially playing Woody Allen, much like Kenneth Branagh did in CELEBRITY... a sweet natured, funny and twitchy guy. A good person in extraordinary circumstances. He's with a girl he loves, the ever so adorable Christina Ricci, but their relationship is strained by her many levels of psychosis.  

Ricci is a nutball in this film. A drop dead gorgeous and goofy nutball, but a nutball nonetheless. She goes from mood to mood in the blink of an eye, she says she loves Biggs to death, but can't stand him touching or making love to her anymore and she's on every possible drug she can get her hands on.  

On top of all that, her equally crazy mother, played perfectly by Stockard Channing, moves into their already cramped New York apartment. Biggs, much like Allen himself in PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM, is always caught between being nice and not wanting his life turning inside out.  

Throughout the film, Biggs gets together with a mentor figure named Lobel, played by Woody Allen. These scenes are my favorite in the film. Lobel is a little loony (as you'd expect... he is played by Woody Allen, after all), but has the wisdom Biggs needs at this crucial time in both his personal and business lives.  

Lobel pushes Biggs into doing the things he has wanted and needed to do, but has refused to take the initiative on due to his heart. He has a sleazy manager (played by Danny DeVito) who still lives with his mother and isn't helping his career one little bit. But Biggs sticks with him because DeVito was the first person to believe in him. Plus he's DeVito's only client. If he's to succeed, he needs to move on. Will he find it in him to let DeVito down?  

The film isn't perfect, but it's a hell of an enjoyable flick. It's a two hour movie that feels like it's half as long. It's very entertaining, well directed and has some great, great characters.  

You really feel the dread in the film and you still find yourself laughing. Ricci is acting weirder and weirder and you know it can't come to a good end. You're just waiting for Biggs to drop his nice guy face and lash out.  

All the actors are great in the film. Ricci steals every scene she's in. She is simply radiant in the film, more beautifully photographed than in anything else she has ever done. When you look into her almond eyes it's hard not to want to tall in love with her despite her quirks, so you instantly know how Biggs's character feels.  

Plus there's a scene where she's wearing only panties and a Baby Tee... bra-less... Nothing is really seen, but that right there is more erotic than seeing her completely naked. It's neck and neck with that amazing Scarlett Johansson T-shirt and panties outfit in LOST IN TRANSLATION... I think the opening shot of that film beats out anything in the history of mankind, though...  

Now, this may be a rather large spoiler, so I'm warning you now... stay away from the below paragraph... It's my opinion of something in the movie that has to do with the end, so if you don't want to know, skip over...  

BEGINNING OF SPOILER!!!  

It is my firm belief that the character of Dobel (Allen) is really Falk (Biggs) who somehow traveled back in time to guide his younger self through some difficult decisions. I want to take all the credit for this, but I must admit that my friend Kraken suggested it first. I'm sure that upon reflection, I would have spotted it, but that damn Titan had to be quicker on the draw... So, if you couldn't help but read the spoiler before you saw the movie, then watch the movie as a time travel flick and let me know how it fits up... I think it fits perfectly myself, but you see the movie and tell me if I'm crazy or not.  

END OF SPOILER!!!  

All in all, I really dug the hell out of ANYTHING ELSE. It's a cute, funny, lightly disturbing little film. And hell... It has Jimmy Fallon in it (for a whole two scenes, but at least he's there)! In the immortal words of Christopher Walken, "Jimmy... wazzup?" I don't know what that means, but I think it's the key that unlocks the mysteries of the universe.  

If you want a romance more believable and twice as scary as UNDERWORLD this weekend... then head over to this flick. If you don't like Woody Allen, then there's nothing I can say that'll get you into this film. Even though Woody is in only about a quarter of the film, his fingerprints are all over this movie. It's undoubtedly Woody. If you're unsure, there's little risk in a matinee.  

That's it from me, squirts. 'Til next time, this is Quint bidding you all a fond farewell and adieu.  

-Quint

Do you have the shots of Ricci's goodies in PROZAC NATION? Email them here! Please!