Anomalisa

Voices of: David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan
Directed by: Duke Johnson, Charlie Kaufman
Rating: R
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Drama
2015

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: An author (David Thewlis) struggles with the reality of his life while on a work trip.

Review:

Tim: I was actually pretty excited to see Anomalisa. Written and co-directed by Charlie Kaufman, you knew this film was going to be pretty crazy. It helps that the film received great critical acclaim and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Film. In one aspect, I see all these and understand why people would fall for this movie. However, I don't like Kaufman's movies just because they are his movies. Yes, this movie is original, but no, I wouldn't consider it the masterpiece many have claimed. I thought it was fine.

The stop motion was impressive. You have to give this film credit for how it looks- it's a beautifully shot film that pulls you into the story. I like how the film never pretended to be anything it wasn't. It tells its story within the limitations of the animation category, while also using the strengths there to its advantage.

The story itself was okay. It was fairly simple and straightforward until it ultimately takes a very Kaufmanesque, insane turn in the latter stages of the movie. I like the simplicity of the story about a guy ruminating on his life. This isn't exactly an uplifting movie, but it's a thought-provoking one. Our main character may be giving a speech, but he comes across as a very ordinary guy. He reflects upon past mistakes, loves both lost and deteriorated. It's fairly amazing how the main character is imbued with such humanity when obviously this isn't a live action movie. That's one of the film's biggest strengths. Our main character is flawed and human. Unfortunately, I just didn't find him all that compelling. The movie did a great job of making him believable, but I honestly don't find the average, run-of-the-mill person all that interesting. He certainly has a past, but it all felt like we'd seen it all before. It might not be depicted in stop motion, but Michael Stone just didn't interest me in the slightest. Lisa is slightly more interesting. She has some unique characteristics and certainly stands out, thanks to Jennifer Jason Leigh's voice. She was an interesting character, but there was also this undercurrent of normalcy that kind of made me want to fall asleep. I appreciate again the intention of creating a believable, flawed, ordinary person. The issue is that ordinary people are often dull, and that was my experience here. There were some odd scenes between Michael and Lisa, but I understand the reasons for them. They weren't exactly comfortable to watch, but I get it.

Anomalisa deserves credit for being a typical Kaufman film- namely, bizarre, unique, insane, and possibly brilliant. Who else decides to make an R-rated stop motion film about adult themes like the very nature of our existence, forgiveness, adultery, parenthood, etc.? I love that this film tackled those themes and others (I also like the explanation for the name of the film, which I was scratching my head about). And yet, while this film deserves credit for giving us something unique and thinking innovatively, at the heart of the film is a story about people. And the problem is that I was never invested in Michael or Lisa. For all their surprising humanity, I felt like I was watching outside, far too disengaged with their struggle. I never felt anything for these characters. And so, when Kaufman takes his story a bit off the deep end, it's hard to stay with it. While there were moments throughout this film that may have shown Kaufman's brilliance, this is still a movie and it's about the characters and the story.

I honestly wish I liked Anomalisa more. I certainly hoped it would be one of the top movies of 2016. While I respect the attempt and the desire to give us something different, the movie as a whole just didn't work well enough for me. I wasn't able to connect with the characters. Being so disconnected, I had to work twice as hard to see past the bizarre aspects of the film. While this is a heady, contemplative movie (which I usually like), I just couldn't get into this film. I'd never scoff at any lovers of this movie- there's certainly a lot of them out there. Speaking for myself, though, I think people had to get caught up a bit in Kaufman being Kaufman. This is a fine movie, but I have to believe it's overrated.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Adaptation., Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind