I'll Do Anything

Matt Hobbs (Nick Nolte) is a working actor unable to get good gigs. His professional life is diminished by the likes of arrogant producer Burke Adler (Albert Brooks) who ropes him into being his driver. His wife leaves their daughter Jeannie (Whittni Wright) with him even thought he hasn't seen her in 2 years. He's attracted to like-minded production assistant Cathy Breslow (Joely Richardson).

Nick Nolte has an angry intensity. I think James L Brooks is looking for that odd couple with a gruff old guy and a little girl. I get it but it's the anger in him and quite frankly the little girl that makes it hard to laugh at. The little girl has a streak of meanness in her. She's not just the quintessential cute little girl. She's yelling for the first half of the movie. The duo has their cute moments but not any funny moments.

Albert Brooks has some funny moments but he doesn't really fit the stereotype of a Hollywood producer. He's a more bumbling character than that. It's hard to see him push anybody around.

This is a movie about making movies and standing up for your beliefs and not having to bow down under the pressures of audience expectations and studio involvements, and it had musical numbers which were cut and writers come in to dumb it down because of audience expectations and studio involvements.

But I found all that out after I first saw the movie and thought it was great entertainment. I love Nick Nolte, he's so grave and gruff and depressed that I hope he doesn't kill himself cause I really like everything he's done, even The Hulk, and especially Affliction and that Martin Short with a kid movie. Joely Richardson is gorgeous! Julie Kavner and James Brooks are great. I highly recommend this film, and hope to see it again soon on DVD with all of the deleted scenes.

This Story has defined Intention and Obstacle, Matt (Nolte) wants to be more successful actor but 6 year old Daughter dropped off by estranged Wife who has to serve a Prison sentence, makes it tough to do . I was inspired to Buy and Watch this Film again by a Podcast I listened to with James L Brooks who Wrote Directed and Produced this Movie. Just like most all Nick Nolte Films back then, I saw this at theatre. He is really Good , as are the supporting Cast. Mr Nolte makes his character(MATT) real easy to jump into his shoes and feel the ups and downs of being a struggling Actor and Dad. The Little Girl is effectively annoying but sweetens up towards the End. Joely Richardson Radiant ! Albert Brooks plays Mob Like Movie Mogul. Not sure why this did not do better at the Box Office ? Check out the Trailer on Amazon. Might spark some memories from 1994.

I saw this movie recently on cable TV and liked it a lot . I was looking for something other than the usual action/shootout/special effect types and ended up selecting this one. I'm glad I did. The supporting actors were excellent and Nick Nolte & Whittni Wright were outstanding in their roles. It was refreshing to see Nolti do this type of thing, although I'm not surprised that he did it well. He's an actor who has, over time, honed his skills to an art form. I'm not sure that he is appreciated as much as he should be. Anyway, in my opinion, "I'll do Anything" is underrated here. I give this flick a high mark and hope that my participation in the "vote" will raise the average score of this fine movie. For those who have had their fill of movies that focus on violence, try this delightful James L Brooks production for a change of pace. Or if you simply want to watch a movie that entertains... go for this one.

It would be very interesting to see the original cut of this movie, which was a musical but had its songs cut out after a test audience indicated that the songs in the movie were terrible. (I'm surprised that not even a bootleg of this cut has leaked out.) I will entertain the possibility that the songs were indeed bad and that the movie was improved by the reworking. But as it is, the movie isn't particularly successful. It does have some interesting behind- the-scenes moments that show the working of the Hollywood machine behind the curtains, and the performances aren't that bad. However, the movie can't seem to make up its mind whether it is a comedy or a drama. It might have been possible to mix those two genres, but as it is here, the two extremes don't seem to fit together. Also, the key relationship in the movie - between the Nick Nolte character and his daughter - seems for the most part not very in-depth, so much so that the emotional ending doesn't seem deserved. The kind of slow pace of the movie as well as its length (almost two hours) doesn't help matters. It's not actively bad, but there's not much that will stick in your mind after watching it.