Anything Else

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Woody Allen directs. Darius Khondji behind the camera. Alisa Lepselter cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Earned back only 75% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
• 2Released 23 years ago.
• 3Directed by Woody Allen, shot by Darius Khondji. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Editor Alisa Lepselter shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 5Jason Biggs and Christina Ricci and Woody Allen carry the top of the cast.
• 6Marketing tagline: "In any relationship, one person always does the heavy lifting.".
• 7IMDB entry: tt0313792 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

Darius Khondji

Editing

Alisa Lepselter

Production design

Santo Loquasto

Costume design

Laura Jean Shannon

Makeup / hair

Lori Hicks

Sound

Lee Dichter

Stunt coordinator

Manny Siverio

Runtime

108 min · 1h 48m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$18,000,000

Box office

$13,585,075

Return

75% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Anything Else (2003) ↗

Also by

Woody Allen

• 
  Annie Hall

  1977 · ★ 7.7
• 
  Manhattan

  1979 · ★ 7.7
• 
  Midnight in Paris

  2011 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Hannah and Her Sisters

  1986 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Crimes and Misdemeanors

  1989 · ★ 7.4
• 
  Zelig

  1983 · ★ 7.4

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Anything Else (2003) Trailer

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Wuchak2021-04-29
  ★ 6/10

  What it's like to have a nutty, morally loose girlfriend in New York City Jerry (Jason Briggs) is a fledgling writer in the Big Apple with an inept agent (Danny DeVito). As Jerry starts a relationship with a loose girl (Christina Ricci) he gets counsel from an older writer with a great vocabulary named Dobel (Woody Allen), usually while walking Central Park. Stockard Channing plays the girl's irritating mother and a young Jimmy Fallon has a cameo. Written & directed by Woody Allen, "Anything Else" (2003) is a dialogue-driven romantic comedy that reflects on the mysteries, absurdities and ironies of life while focusing on the attraction and power of a nubile woman. Briggs is a quality protagonist and I enjoyed Jerry and Dobel's mentee/mentor relationship. Dobel uses a lot of obscure terminology so I recommend using the subtitles to keep up with it, as well as the low-key humor, which is quite entertaining. It's also nice to see Erica Leerhsen in a small role. Christina looks great and is a fit as can be, but her morally loose character is a mass of conflicting impulses. Her actions are controlled by whether or not she's excited by her sexual partner and, of course, only a new partner excites her, which means no sexual relations with a man once he becomes "old hat." While she's looking to find excitement elsewhere Jerry does everything he can to keep the relationship going, which is hard to do when the girl's obnoxious mother is living in the same apartment. Not only is it frustrating for Jerry to deal with this situation, it's frustrating for the viewer as well. No doubt these types of aggravating people and relationships are the point of the movie, and it IS amusing to a point, but it naturally makes the viewing experience aggravating as well. Plus sympathy for Jerry only goes so far; after all, he's the fool who dropped his perfectly suitable mate (KaDee Strickland) to pursue the sexy-but-unfaithful new girl. In short, he's sleeping in the bad he made. Nevertheless, the movie’s witty, thought-provoking, well made and performed. It’s one of Tarantino’s 20 favorite flicks from 1992-2009. The film runs 108 minutes and was shot entirely in New York City. GRADE: B-

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• GR

  Gravier Productions

  US

• PE

  Perdido Productions

  US

Key crew

• Executive ProducerStephen Tenenbaum
• EditorAlisa Lepselter
• ProducerLetty Aronson
• Executive ProducerBenny Medina
• Location ScoutEric Wrolstad
• Camera LoaderAmy Silverman
• Scenic ArtistChinyere Ryan
• Location ManagerChristie Mullen
• Location ScoutJohn Robert Reed
• Second Assistant CameraMatt Balzarini
• Location ScoutCurrie Person
• Assistant Property MasterRobin McAllister
• Co-ProducerHelen Robin
• Special Effects CoordinatorRon Ottesen
• Wardrobe SupervisorLisa R. Frucht
• Production AccountantPietro Lorino, Jr.
• Property MasterPeter Gelfman
• Makeup ArtistLori Hicks
• Production SupervisorJanice Williams
• HairstylistPeggy Schierholz
• Assistant Location ManagerLynn H. Powers
• Assistant Production CoordinatorAlicia Haldenwang
• Assistant Art DirectorJonathan Arkin
• Key GripGary Martone

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• psychoanalysis
• comedian
• relationship problems
• advice
• experience

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical2003-08-27R

Also known as

International titles

• CokolivCZ
• 애니씽 엘스KR
• 活得比你好HK
• 우디 앨런의 애니씽 엘스KR