It is always a pleasure to see what Charlie Kaufman comes up with. Whether the result is utterly genius (like “Synechdoche”) or a brilliant slight (like “John Malkovich”), there is hardly anybody who pushes the art of movie writing to such a high level.
With “Anomalisa”, I am more on the “Wow, that’s interesting” side, the film having an interesting visual approach, a interestingly depressing reflection on human nature of middle-aged conference speakers, and an outstanding Kafka scene to make up for all its flaws. One such flaw is the sudden ending, which left me surprised and a tad disappointed, but which also somehow is in line with the notion of “scenes from a life”. Anomalisa does not claim to present a drama, an extraordinary event, what it does is show the desperation and confusion of life when seen from a certain inside perspective.
The artificiality of the animation and the voice cast (most females are voiced by male actors, I believe) supports the dream-like character of the film. The touch if genius is Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lisa, whose realism and ordinariness awards her the title of being an anomaly in a twisted approach to life.
Double points for second best puppet sex scene ever, and kudos to Kaufman for managing to make the kind of films he finds rewarding. More please!
thomas4cinema 