ANYTHING ELSE (2003)

For aging directors, the only thing that's worse than rehashing your old themes (with diminishing returns) is to appear painfully out of date or (even more ignominious) letting your shrinking audience see how hard you're sweating to keep up with the times. Woody Allen manages a nifty hat trick here, falling into all three traps in this misbegotten peek at current mores and moods amongst NYC’s late-20somethings. For those who hang in there, Woody's turn as a misanthropic Polonius/mentor is a bravura turn, but most of the cast come off poorly (or inept). Jason Biggs flails about in the expected Allenesque mode (when he's not trying for young Matthew Broderick), and Christina Ricci is just plain insufferable as an allureless sexual nymph.