Anomalisa

Anomalisa

Starring David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan

Directed by Duke Johnson & Charlie Kaufman

The Story:
Michael Stone (David Thewlis) is a customer service expert, author of a world-renowned book, and travels the country speaking at conventions.  He arrives in Cincinnati, where he tries to re-connect with an old flame (despite being married with a kid), which fails miserably as she can't stand to even be in the same room as him after he ruthlessly dumped her years earlier.

Alone and depressed, he realizes that everyone has the same voice (Tom Noonan), and each person is rather plain and not unique, until he hears the voice of a woman.  He finds the woman, named Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who traveled to Cincinnati to hear him speak.  The two hit it off and he believes he's finally found that unique person, but it could all just be an illusion.

The Synopsis:
Charlie Kaufman is a brilliant director and writer (he's written such mind-bending films like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" and "Being John Malkovich") who wrote "Anomalisa" as an audio play that also featured the three actors in the film (David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh & Tom Noonan).  He collaborated with famed stop-motion animator Duke Johnson to bring the audio story to life, brilliantly blending the stop-motion animation with nearly lifelike puppets to tell a deeply human tale of seeking the extraordinary in the ordinary.

The film itself doesn't really go anywhere in its plot.  Stone lands in Cincinnati, spends time in the hotel, meets Lisa, has his conference and returns home.  There's not a lot that propels the story, but there's no need for such extravagant outer distractions when you've got this simple, yet profound, humanistic story.  As Michael Stone becomes a victim of his own popularity, he realizes that everyone else around him is completely mundane, muttering around life with the same voice, not showing any signs of greatness (all the while talking about how everyone is special and unique in his conference speeches).  Even when he talks to his wife and son, they have the same voice as well, and he can't distinguish between them. 

That is, until he hears the lone different voice, and finds it in Lisa, who is herself a very sweet person, yet also struggles with self-esteem issues.  It's hard to decipher if Stone takes advantage of the girl, or if it really is love.  Still, Lisa is smitten by him, and he with her.  At least for the first night.

The animation in the film is groundbreaking, and earned the film an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Film, the first R-rated animated film to do so.  Kaufman delivers a compelling tale in which we're not sure if everyone really is bland and uninspiring, or Stone himself is. 

The Summary:
Using revolutionary stop-motion animation with puppets, Charlie Kaufman's audio play "Anomalisa" finds its way to the cinema, and delivers a simple - yet powerful - tale.

The Score: A