This tale of Hollywood and an actor learning to be a parent to his estranged six year old daughter is the film that started out as a musical. Test audiences hated the musical numbers so they were all dropped from the film. The writer/director James L. Brooks rewrote new scenes which were inserted into the final film but to no avail. The film was a critical and financial flop.
What's left is a fairly decent romantic comedy with lots of amusing jokes about Hollywood. Nick Nolte is an actor who has never been able to get a break in the movies. Much to his surprise while taking care of his daughter his ex-wife has abandoned, she turns out to be a talented child actor who gets a part in a sit-com. At the same time Nolte begins a relationship with a production assistant played by Joely Richardson an English actor who does a convincing job with her west coast accent.
Another relationship is featured in the film between Albert Brooks playing a pushy producer of action films who begins a romance with a film analyst played by Julie Kavner. Albert Brooks character is clearly modeled after flamboyant producer Joel Sliver. Albert Brooks is his funny self as usual.
James L. Brooks may not have been someone to take on a musical comedy. His strength has always been in creating interesting characters and putting them in funny situations. Brooks is always a meticulous craftsman, the performances and scenes are filmed at his very high standard of quality. I'll Do Anything is probably a lightweight film at best however it has a lot of entertaining qualities.
The running time is 115 minutes.
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