"Anomalisa" - Review

"I Think You Are Extraordinary"

A Wonderful Moment in Anomalisa

The most honest and tender cinematic experience of the year comes to us from the creators of Community, Moral Orel, and Rick and Morty and a bunch of Kickstarter supporters. This is a film that rarely ever exists, which is even more reason to go out and see this immediately. This is a special film and it deserves to be seen.

David Thewlis and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Michael and Lisa

Without giving away too much, even the way the story is told is a spoiler in my opinion, I can say that Anomalisa is about a depressed but successful man named Michael Stone, played by Harry Potter's very own Lupin: David Thewlis. The world is a prison of his own making. Everything seems mundane and the same to him. Every location. Every person. Exactly the same. He travels to Cincinnati to deliver a speech about customer service following the major success of his book about the subject. It is here where his boring world is finally broken open by the ray of light that is Lisa, played with tremendous humanity by Jennifer Jason Leigh. Lisa doesn't appear to be the same as everyone else. Her voice is beautiful and unique. Michael takes a chance on Lisa after falling for her immediately and a lovely night of tender romance ensues. The catch here is that this very grounded story is taken to surreal territory by being completely and meticulously animated to the very last detail with superb stop motion animation.

Let's cut to the chase: Anomalisa is a perfect film. Charlie Caufman, the writer of great pieces of work such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich, and animation

director Duke Johnson reached out to Kickstarter in order to create something wholly original and
groundbreaking with complete creative control. It is a small miracle that this even exists. The added bonus is that it is better than anything made this year backed by a major studio.

To be clear from the offset, this is not a children's film. This is a mature and adult film to its very core. It explores deeply complicated topics in a graphic and frank fashion. This is a film that is liberal in its use of language and sex. It does not let itself be defined by the genre it is operating in. It is an adult film that uses animation as an important storytelling tool. It is not just a film that is animated for

no other reason. You forget after a while that you are even watching an animation. The story and the characters are so well realized and given such great depth that the animation is no longer a hurdle to get through but is instead essential to the film. I do not want to give away some of the brilliant storytelling choices here, but I will say that you will understand what I mean once you see the world Michael lives in for the first time. It will probably surprise you and put you off balance for a bit, but keep an open mind and settle in and you will be in for an emotional and intelligent treat.

The story itself is simple, but there is so much to unpack. Every frame and every word spoken is gives you something to mentally chew on for a while. This is also a very haunting film, expertly showing showing depression and unrest with such accuracy and honesty. The section of the film where Michael and Lisa are finally in the same room together is like a short film itself. It is an amazing 15-20 minutes of writing that quickly became some of my favorite moments of 2015, including a heartbreaking rendition of Girls Just Want to Have Fun sung by Jennifer Jason Leigh. It is at once sweet and telling of the kind of world Lisa wishes to break into. It all culminates in a love scene that is more tender and real than any other love scene in recent memory, and it is from an animated film of all things. It never feels like a joke. This is not Team America: World Police. It is authentic and truly lovely. It is a high point in an already moving experience.

Anomalisa is achingly romantic and deeply sad. It is ultimately a tragedy about the worlds we create around ourselves and what we mean to other people through our actions and perception of others. It is also a devastating portrait of how lost and isolated one can feel when stuck with depression, even when it seems they should not be. I may write another piece later about what this film means to me personally and give more of an analysis, but I will not go into it here as I believe that it is essential to drop yourself into the world of Anomalisa as fresh as possible so the experience is unique to you without any premeditation. 

For me, this a beautiful and human film. It is also the best film of 2015.

Grade: A+.

Anomalisa is now playing in theaters.