Anomalisa

This is certainly one of the strangest animations I have ever seen and strange in a very good way. This is a Stop-Motion film about a man , Michael Stone , who while on a business trip , decides that his life is so dull and mundane that he needs to have a bit of fun whether it be with an ex girlfriend or an admirer of his work. The problem is Michael Stone doesn't do fun. He doesn't really know how to. In fact he's not a very nice man at all.

I loved this. The attention to detail is amazing. Not just the fascinating animation but the voices. Not until it starts to looks like he might have enjoyment do we hear a woman's voice. All other times it is voiced by the same man. That's the voices of women and children too and it highlights perfectly the rut he is stuck in. The sex scenes are very unnerving yet worryingly realistic . The film makers have got the facial expressions and even the tone of the voices perfectly and it's the little things that make this film so fascinating.

Recommended.

This is a small film – by which I mean it's not a great one. This is, of course, in contrast to all the critical praise which has been heaped on it. The word "masterpiece" has featured in many reviews, but I can't agree. I'd stress that I'm a huge Charlie Kaufman fan and my anticipation on going to see the film was equally as big as my disappointment after I'd done so. So what's the problem? I think it's the smallness of the story;yes it's about alienation,yes it's clever, yes the sex scene is achingly real and uncomfortable, but this movie has only a few points to make – mostly about alienation and the "otherness" of people – and while it makes them well, they don't amount to a decent movie. Thinking about it afterwards – and puzzled by the praise it has received and disconcerted by my own disappointment – I realised that if this movie has been made with human actors it simply wouldn't get the same sort of critical acclaim, in fact, it would be deemed dull, dull, dull. The thing which lifts it out of the ordinary – but not into the extraordinary – is the fact that it's told via animation. I urge anyone who loves the movie to try and imagine sitting through the same script acted by real people – it would be achingly boring.

Caught this film at a last minute matinée at ArcLight Hollywood. It's a stop motion animated film about a British author, voiced by David Thewlis, coming to Cincinnati for one night for a conference and his time spent in a first class hotel.

At the beginning I was impatient with it, I thought it might be just a stop motion South Park episode, where all the voices are pretty much the same. Then when the character of Lisa came on the screen, it all changed for me. I got it, it clicked.

The film is so disarmingly simple in its beauty and elegance. The relationship between the two main characters really touches you. Plus I'd never thought I'd be moved by the singing of a particular well known 1980s pop song in the film.

The role of Lisa was a diamond in the rough character, a beautiful, flawed girl whose been wrongly ignored romantically and it just takes the right person to see how fantastic she really is. It made me think of the times I wished I'd had a Lisa in my life and the times I was fortunate enough to have one. Lisa was voiced by Jennifer Jason Leigh in a performance that fooled me, I was so drawn into the character I had no idea it was her, I only saw Lisa as Lisa.

While not a perfect film, it won me over and works on many levels, the filmmakers, Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson, leave it largely up for the viewer to decide what the film is about. Is the lead character insane? Is he in Limbo, his own private Hell, is everyone a robot, wearing masks literally? Does he see oil painting beauty in someone one day and the next sees only cracks and flaws? Who can say?

One thing though, voice actor Tom Noonan, albeit talented, should never sing again, ever. Never again, Dollarhyde, never again.

Anomalisa, or as I call it, A Mona Lisa, is the same as the iconic painting that is its namesake, kind of a thing of flawed beauty.

I am a huge Charlie Kaufman fan, and was very excited to get the chance to see this film at the Denver Film Festival this week. However, this film was extremely disappointing. The plot was quite boring and the film really just seemed to be a character study of loneliness and mental health deterioration. It would have made a great short film, but it was entirely too long for such a low-quality plot. The ending left me extremely unsatisfied.

However, I did enjoy the animation, sound, and other technical aspects of the film. But I'd have to rate this 5 stars and place it next to down there next to Schenectady, New York as one of my least favorite Charlie Kaufman films. Apparently I prefer films he writes but does not direct. I'm ready for another Spike Jonze collaboration!

There's no other to say it: 'Anomalisa' is beyond the ordinary, its something like you've never seen before (well, almost). Oscar-Winner Charlie Kaufman Writes & Directs this unusual story, with sensitivity, although the final-act turns up bland. More on that later...

'Anomalisa' Synopis: A man crippled by the Mundanity of his life experiences something out of the ordinary.

'Anomalisa' is a story about a man stuck in monotony & depression. Kaufman along-with Co-Director Duke Johnson, delivers a sad story about facing repetition in life. And they begin the story beautifully & it remains great even after its protagonist forms a relationship with a "different soul". BUT, the final-act is a downer. The narrative falls apart & even though Kaufman's message comes across, it doesn't leave an impact. The open-ending also doesn't work. In short, 'Anomalisa' works wonders, until it falls apart in its penultimate moments.

Kaufman's Writing is truly terrific in the first-hour, but as mentioned prominently before, this story deserved a better end! Kaufman & Duke Johnson's Direction is skilled, as the stop-motion adult animation, is brilliantly done.

David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh & Tom Noonan deliver mesmerizing vocal performances. Leigh, especially, is magnificent. After 'The Hateful Eight', Leigh triumphs once again with a super act in 'Anomalisa'.

On the whole, Despite some faults, 'Anomalisa' deserves a watch for its brave approach & its perfectly done depressing setting.