Anomalisa Reviews

Adult, tender, simple, straight to the idea, pragmatic (just having all women talking lke men and the one talking womanly, is enough) puppet fantastic realistic stuff.

Since I kept hearing some really interesting things about this movie, I was really eager to check it out. Well, it gave me pretty much the same feeling I had while watching 'Mary and Max', another very original and very well received animated feature. Indeed, with this movie, just like with 'Mary and Max', while I really admired the work done, I still had a hard time to really connect with the damned thing. The biggest obstacle, at least, as far as I was concerned, was the fact that the main character was such a tedious and unpleasant guy constantly complaining about everything. To make things worse, while the dude was on a business trip, after he failed to hook up with his ex after he dumped her 10 years before without any explanation, the very same evening, he still managed to cheat on his wife with some random guest at his hotel. I mean, sure, it was refreshing that the main character was not one of the usual pretty faces with a perfect behavior but I can't say I really cared about him and what he was going through. And, yet, like the rest of the work delivered by Charlie Kaufman so far, it was something so weird and original, it was still quite spellbinding to behold. Indeed, my take is that we are all like Michael Stone, we all believe that we are special and unique while all the others around us are just some boring clones. When we fall in love, for a rather short periode of time, we believe we have finally found someone else also unique and wonderful but it doesn't last very long and, eventually, this new love turns out to be just as boring and underwhelming as everyone else in the world. The crushing reality and the dilemma faced by the main character is that we are all the same but we are also all completely different at the same time which was apparently something impossible to handle for this guy. Anyway, to conclude, even if I wasn't completely sold by the damned thing, it was still an interesting watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in some more experimental features.

Charlie Kaufman’s films are such distinct flavors, heavy on the quirk and human drama, that they’re immediately recognizable, even in animated form. If film is frequently thought of as a director’s medium, Kaufman proves that occasionally a screenwriter’s voice is so specific that it can puncture that thought ever so slightly.

 

Here in Anomalisa, Kaufman presents an authentic and great depiction of depression. Using stop-motion animation, Kaufman tells the story of a man’s (David Thewlis) midlife crisis in which he views everyone with the exact same nondescript face and the vocals of Tom Noonan, regardless of gender or age. Noonan’s vocals are frequently affectless and the same for every character, until he overhears Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh), the only person to feature their own face and vocals.

 

Make no mistake; this is no meet cute that’s a miracle cure-all. Unlike numerous movies with liter the landscape that sell the lie that romantic entanglements will cure crippling depression, Anomalisa proves that a connection can temporarily shake it off, but it’s still an uphill fight every moment of every day. Yet there’s a real tenderness and connection between these two lonely people, and their sex scene is the most emotional moment in a film full of them. Who knew a film about puppets would feature a sex scene that was that engaging and honest?

 

There’s not a lot of plot involved in Anomalisa, it mostly involves one night, is confined primarily to a hotel, and our emotions traverse from sympathetic feelings towards him to anger and wanting him to get his shit together. Then the final scene comes around, and we see how disconnected he is from his own life. An earlier scene hinted at it, the morning after with Leigh’s character, in which her voice merges with Noonan’s, and the sun behind her head slowly eclipses the character’s face. But the final scene hammers the point home, this guy is depressed, floundering, and needs a lot of help.

 

What makes the film work so well is its modesty of ambition. It is an entirely hermetically sealed world. Even the nightmare sequence takes place entirely within the hotel. This small scale allows for the focus to really narrow upon the character’s interactions, and how they evolve and change throughout the course of the night. Being a Kaufman film, things get weird and strange, but they never stop feeling real. Despite the puppet’s visible face plates and hair lines, despite it being yet another entry in a well-worn genre (middle-aged straight white man deals with sadness), it finds tremendous specificity, truth, and melancholy within. Never before has Cyndi Lauper’s “Girl Just Wanna Have Fun” been used to highlight the yearning to break free, to walk in the sun, to sing in our own voice.

Thoughts Before I Watched This:
1. I didn't realize it was literally only 3 actors for the whole thing.
2. I also thought it was CGI rather than stop motion puppets.
3. I've heard some strange things about this that I'm curious about.
4. Is hearing everyone with the same voice an actual condition?
5. I do like David Thewlis and Jennifer Jason Leigh anyways.
6. Can't say I've heard of Duke Johnson.
7. Charlie Kaufman is known for a little bit of oddity.
8. I mean he wrote Adaptation that weird Nicolas Cage movie where he played twins.
9. Still can't believe this movie is like a more mature and realistic puppet movie.
10. Reminds me of Team Police just not immature.

Thoughts While I Watched This:
1. Oh hearing everyone talk with the same voice would drive me mad.
2. I think I've already gone mad.
3. It's only been 2 minutes. :O
4. Whoa that's quite a string of f bombs lol.
5. That guy would have creeped me out.
6. This whole time before actually watching this I thought the main character wore glasses.
7. It seems it's just the puppets designs that make it look this way.
8. I feel that same way sometimes.
9. Don't patronize your patrons. Never good for business.
10. His accent isn't that hard to understand lol.
11. What the hell kind of phone buttons are those haha?
12. He hates hearing that same voice for extended periods of time.
13. Haha oh my really is everyone.
14. Oh wow uh awkward! O.o
15. Lol that argument sounds hilarious when it's heard as if both are the same person.
16. Yeah I was wondering what kind he meant.
17. This definitely isn't for the kiddos not that I thought it would be haha.
18. Oh wow okay then didn't need that visual.
19. What in the hell just happened?
20. And it just keeps going...
21. Aww isn't she just so adorable!
22. Even more so since she is a klutz.
23. I feel the way she feels sometimes.
24. Is he just using her and attracted because she doesn't have the same voice or does he actually like her?
25. Ah so that's how they came up with the title.
26. Well it's awkward and yet quite realistic.
27. Oh um well okay O.O
28. What in the hell?!
29. Then it gets even weirder!
30. Ah well it was all a dream then okay.
31. Okay quite odd.

Thoughts After I Watched This:
1. It was definitely as odd as I've heard.
2. I don't see how puppet or animated sexuality is so disturbing for some.
3. If that condition is real then I'm glad it isn't something I know.
4. I can see why it was nominated.
5. I'm not sure it's my favorite animation of the year though.