"Anomalisa"

Released: 10/10/2015

Directed by: Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson
Starring: David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan 

My Rating: 7/10

At first glance, I didn’t know what to make of Anomalisa, as a lover of stop-motion it was great but I was unable to tell what was going to happen as I had kept myself in the dark about the plot before watching it, despite it being out for a few years.

We follow Distant and often Mundane customer service expert Michael Stone, portrayed by David Thewlis, who pulls off Michael’s frustrated and anxiety/ridden voice wonderfully.

Michael, who has travelled to Cincinnati in order to promote his latest self-help book is clearly bored and depressed with life and we soon realise that everyone else has the same face. male, female, adult and child. All the same.

At first I thought that some characters might be transgender due to this, in particular, one character who used to date Michael and meets up with him. They talk about life and how Michael has a wife and son now. It soon clicked to me that it was intentional for the storyline that everyone else looks the same, everyone else except for Lisa, that is.

Lisa is voiced by Jennifer Jason Leigh who does a great job of playing a quirky young girl who despite her personal hang-ups, is still quite positive about Life.

There is a dream sequence that is very well executed and makes you feel just as confused as Michael is in regards to what is happening. It reminds me a bit of the tunnel sequence in “willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” (1971).

This is a truly unique film, even down to the stop motion being done with 3D printed models, which gives it a unique style. Having only 3 voice actors throughout the entire film is certainly an interesting idea, and makes you really notice when Michael or Lisa say something as it’s not just the monotone voice that everyone else has (Tom Noonan is credited as “everyone else” and is able to make these background characters feel different but very much the same to great effect.)

Anomalisa is a very Human film and goes through many emotions, from subtle humour, to the bleakness Michael seems to have constantly with him, and eventually, the romance that Michael finds with Lisa. It’s Definitely a film that’s a bit different, but I recommend giving it a watch.