Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Maybe I just didn't get it. But I really don't see how anyone could thoroughly like this movie. Everyone in this movie is so selfish. The two main characters, Jerry (Biggs) & Amanda (Ricci) do one selfish thing after another in this movie. Amanda is especially excruciating. It has your typical witty dialog that I've become accustomed to when it comes to Woody Allen films. It's set up nicely, I just wish they were more likable. I realize we all have our ism's, but these people take the cake. Jerry has to have things precisely the way he wants them all the time. I can relate to that, because I'm kinda like that as well. I hate when plans go awry, but the way he goes about it irritated me. His character has no backbone, he constantly puts up with Amanda's ludicrous behavior, and it got to the point where I no longer cared. I like Jason Biggs. He'll never be considered a great actor, but I do like him. He seemed a bit out-of-place in this movie, not sure on how to play the role. He felt like Jim Levenstein, his American Pie character, only in a Woody Allen movie. He has moments where he does terrific work, others where he seems lost. He does well, all things considered. Nobody expected him to be cast in a Woody Allen movie, so he deserves all the credit in the world for even succeeding half the time. I did smile when he broke the fourth wall as well by talking to the camera. Christina Ricci plays her role well, but she infuriated me beyond belief. This woman is incorrigible in this movie. She doesn't care about anyone but herself, she lies through her teeth, and uses fake BS when she gets backed into a corner, not to mention her weird attraction to her father (!). The worst for me is when she reams Jerry for not wanting to snort cocaine up his nose, because he never goes with the moment. I was tempted to shut it off right then and there, but I only had 15 minutes left. Woody Allen is amusing in spades. I chuckled at his use of vocabulary. He had good chemistry with Biggs as well. Stockard Channing is OK as Ricci's mom. Danny DeVito & Jimmy Fallon also have roles. The ending was somewhat satisfactory for me, I got what I wanted, I was just so turned off by the two leads, especially Amanda. It's not that this movie is bad, just very unlikable. Many will probably like this, but I wasn't one of them. I will give it merit, though5.5/10

Actually, awful says it all. Even the character that Woody plays is bad with a few funny one liners. The girlfriend is pathetic and the main character is worse. Don't waste your time. It tried to submit and had to enter 10 lines which is ridiculous because this movie is not worth ten lines. The mother is not very convincing. She overreacts and the scene with her young boyfriend doing cocaine is offensive. It just goes to show how low Woody had gone to try to get laughs and make the movie current. I felt as if the movie were a metaphor for a failing famous old actor dating a 18-year old fawning female fan. All the characters were miscast. It just lacked the magic of earlier films and many later films. Woody is still producing excellent movies. This one is just a bomb. But remember how many great movies Woody has produced and he can be forgiven. And he recovered from this flop and produced many good movies after this one.

At around 6.5. From what I've seen, the gist of an IMDb Woody Allen rating is that you can add two points to the film if you're a fan, and subtract two points if you're not.My first time seeing this on the small screen, through a sequential re-viewing of the entire works (most of which I'd seen before, but not this one). Of course it has some great lines, deep existential truths and some perfectly observed moments. This is why I would watch any Woody film, you never leave empty. On the other hand, Allen's tendency to ventriloquise any protagonist that isn't him is in full effect with Biggs not really up to the character's dialogue as written (whether this is a problem with writing, acting or casting doesn't really matter). Also, the early script often drags, as Allen's tendency to hammer home a relationship dynamic in the character setup makes for a lot of work in the first part of the film. I guess non-fans might be turned off by the lack of likable characters.In the end though, this one contained some gems in the writing; and insight into the way the world provides you with plenty of impetus to conform to a bad situation, but very little to move to a better one. Don't usually like to write a spoiler, but for me the obvious twist left undone in Allen's assault on authority is that HE should have ended up dating Ricci's character while sending Falk off for 'his own good'. As it is, Allen gave himself the easy out. He's a prick like that. But also one of the best film-makers that ever lived.

It's boring. And if you're accustomed of Woody Allen's world, then it's very boring ! God. Here you are the same characters, places, behaviors, stories, music all over again. I thought at some point that it's just a remake of many clips from Allen's previous movies done with newcomers !Doesn't this man get out much, or see some people other than himself ?!! It's crazy how nearly all of his movies are nothing but rounds and rounds in his so closed, high-strung, one-note self. I'm feeling dizzy already ! And as if it's not enough to have the same Woody in all of his movies, now we have 2 Woodys; the original one along with a clone of him as well. (Jason Biggs) wasn't acting as Woody only, he was acting Woody himself, while the real one was acting (Dobel); which while being a more interesting character, is another face for the same high-strung, one-note man. It can't get more subjective than this ! So, it's boring, I have seen and hear all of that before. It's monotones, it feels all the time like one extended line running uninterruptedly in a screen of Polygraph in some icu (yeah, the one that tells us that the patient is dead!). And it's silly where there is nothing remotely funny about it (even the psychiatrist wasn't utilized as it should). I thought it's a movie about commitment and relationships, but it ended up being about the noisy confusion of Woody Allen about commitment and relationships, with nothing new, thrilling, or amusing along the way; only a song performed by "Stockard Channing", a scene for "Danny DeVito", and a line at the end about listening to the advices of people, AND THAT'S IT ! If this movie says anything, then it says that despite lacking the charisma (Jason Biggs) can actually do things else Hollywood rubbish (none other than American Pie), (Darius Khondji)'s widescreen cinematography did a really rich addition to the same (Manhattan) of Woody, giving it a touch of glaring class and entertainingly aesthetical flavor this time, and finally it says that Woody must change, because clearly, and according to his very movies, he doesn't. He made his lead move on at the end, well dear.. move on yourself ! The truth is Allen wrote (Annie Hall) again, poorly, just to add the character of (Dobel) in it. It would have been much much better if he wrote another movie, with or without (Dobel) in it. So, if you want to experience a negative version of (Groundhog Day), then watch most of Allen's movies lately. As for me, after (Anything Else) I'll stick to anything else for a long time !