When Woody Allen did stand-up in the 1960s, you could tell he was having fun. When he played broad physical comedy in early 1970s films like Bananas, Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex, and Sleeper, he was hilarious and it sure looked like he was having fun.
In later and recent films, the closest he comes to fun is usually sardonic wit, and surrogate Woodys like Jason Biggs (who does a masterly imitation of the trademark stammer) under Allen's direction come across as younger old (sour) Woodys, not young younger (fun-loving) Woodys.
So a lot of the fun is gone. In its place are more speeches and stagecraft, but also longer (and more fruitful) thoughts. Anything Else deploys familiar bedroom-farcical situations and characters, but it uses them to explore the dynamics of self-confidence. This exploration is the longer thought and pervading theme of the film. Initially Dobel (played by Allen) is a supremely confident mentor to Falk (Biggs). By the end of the film, Falk, under Dobel's prodding, has become self-confident enough to make a clean break from the life he knows; whereas Dobel has gotten himself into a situation where he appears completely insecure.
Is self-confidence entirely situational? Can a person who always tries to please act ethically? As the film approaches its end, Allen's script becomes increasingly sharp, with many memorable lines and phrases. Woody seems to be using film the way Alexander Pope used poetry in an earlier age. In Anything Else, as in some other films, he seeks to discover and explore the nature and meaning of an ethical life where another thoughtful director might use the same premise to analyze social behavior or plumb depths of character.
People who are open to film as musing and meditation on a serious issue may well find Anything Goes even more rewarding on its third watching than on its first.
In later and recent films, the closest he comes to fun is usually sardonic wit, and surrogate Woodys like Jason Biggs (who does a masterly imitation of the trademark stammer) under Allen's direction come across as younger old (sour) Woodys, not young younger (fun-loving) Woodys.
So a lot of the fun is gone. In its place are more speeches and stagecraft, but also longer (and more fruitful) thoughts. Anything Else deploys familiar bedroom-farcical situations and characters, but it uses them to explore the dynamics of self-confidence. This exploration is the longer thought and pervading theme of the film. Initially Dobel (played by Allen) is a supremely confident mentor to Falk (Biggs). By the end of the film, Falk, under Dobel's prodding, has become self-confident enough to make a clean break from the life he knows; whereas Dobel has gotten himself into a situation where he appears completely insecure.
Is self-confidence entirely situational? Can a person who always tries to please act ethically? As the film approaches its end, Allen's script becomes increasingly sharp, with many memorable lines and phrases. Woody seems to be using film the way Alexander Pope used poetry in an earlier age. In Anything Else, as in some other films, he seeks to discover and explore the nature and meaning of an ethical life where another thoughtful director might use the same premise to analyze social behavior or plumb depths of character.
People who are open to film as musing and meditation on a serious issue may well find Anything Goes even more rewarding on its third watching than on its first.