Tuesday, March 8, 2016

ANOMALISA MOVIE REVIEW - Charlie Kaufman

    Anomalisa poster image of character Michael Stone


ANOMALISA (2015)
Rating: 4 out of 5
Comedy, Drama
Directed by: Duke Johnson & Charlie Kaufman
Screenplay: Charlie Kaufman, (based on his Play “Anomalisa”)
Cast: David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan
Oscar Nomination: Best Animated Feature Film


     When I approached my car to begin my drive over to the Enzian Theater to see Anomalisa, I found that my gold Camry was speckled with the tinge of white bird poop. But I wasn't going to let this unforeseen act of nature keep me from seeing this film.  And after I saw Anomalisa and finally had time to scrape the mess off my car, I felt it seamed to fit the tone of the movie in an odd way.  This story dramatizes the bland routine of everyday life and yet it is engaging and unlike anything you have seen before.  Funny scenes like watching a character have to field a bunch of questions just to order hotel room service or having to try his key card several times because the door is faulty are made more interesting because of the animation technique used to produce the film.  The Starburns Industries team made 3-D printed heads for each puppet character, then constructed small sets to make up their world and posed them frame by frame to simulate movement.  This tedious process is called stop-motion animation.  It took the production two years to complete the animation and all of the detail in the final film is proof of their craft and dedication.  The practical lighting they created for these miniature sets created a breathtaking sense of depth and realism.  Even the fact that these characters had plastic heads went into telling the story when it takes a surprising turn.

     Anomalisa is not just eye candy, it tells the story of Michael Stone, a highly successful customer service guru who is in town for a book tour after he wrote the definitive book on the subject.  Ironically, in his personal life Michael feels isolated from the rest of humanity, he is anti-social, that is until he falls for Lisa who is a beautiful yet shy fan of his writing.  Some elements of Anomalisa are unusual, but that should come as no surprise since it was Co-Directed and Written by Charlie Kaufman, the creative mind behind Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  Take the cast for example, David Thewlis is the voice of the lead, Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lisa, the love interest who ends up driving the story forward and of course inspires the film's title.  Then there is actor Tom Noonan who is credited as playing the voice of “Everyone else.” This is including Michael's Ex-Girlfriend, who is generous enough to visit him at the hotel bar after he left her without cause or consultation.  Yes, hearing a male voice for a female character is off putting, but it must not be misunderstood as laziness.  It reminded me of Steven Soderbergh's 1996 film Schizopolis which featured a character playing a wife in a troubled marriage who inexplicably starts arguing with her husband in totally different languages from one scene to another.  This unique choice speaks about the divide between this couple.  Having a man voice all the female characters except Lisa in Anomalisa supports the theme of the movie in a similar way.  This is bold storytelling to say the least.  I also have to mention the sex scene in this movie that is so natural and honest that it plays as comedy.  Even though it is two puppets having sex, it is nothing like the crude sex scene in Team America: World Police.

     It is interesting to know that Anomalisa was partially crowd funded.  The filmmakers launched the project on Kickstarter with a $200,000 goal, which raised $406,237 from 5,770 backers.  This becomes clear when these backers are listed in the end credits, the columns of names stretched on and on like a four lane highway.  The only thing that keeps this movie from a five star review is the ending.  For me several scenes before the ending had more of a climactic feel and relevance to the theme than the final minutes of the movie did.  That being said I still highly recommend Anomalisa for its originality and this is a movie written by Charlie Kaufman after all, so I'll have to watch it again to see if I missed something.


    Display at Enzian Theater. Photo by Curt Wiser


  • Curt Wiser is a writer who thinks Bio's should be brief.
For info on the feature Cam-Girl which he wrote and directed go to: www.webcamthefilm.com

     


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