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| Michael and Lisa in "Anomalisa" |
The animated stop motion film "Anomalisa," directed, written and co-produced by Oscar-winner Charlie Kaufman of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" fame and currently nominated for this year's Animated Feature Oscar, is a rarity: an affecting, unusual tribute to a different type of human awakening. Michael Stone (David Thewlis), husband, father and respected inspirational self-help author is a man crippled by the mundanity of his life. On a business trip to Cincinnati to speak at a convention of customer service professionals, he checks into the Fregoli Hotel. There, he is amazed to discover a possible escape from his desperation in the form of an unassuming sales rep, Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who could be the love of his life. The unconventional, character-driven "adult cartoon" that is "Anomalisa" is filled with some touching, human moments of depth, a remarkable feat for a production that seems an unlikely fit until you discover what the story is really about, and then you can't see it any other way. The themes of romantic love and escape from humdrum reality mixed with fantasy is hardly anything new for Kaufman, he's been exploring these on different levels in "Being John Malkovich," "Spotless Mind" and "Adaptation," but never before in stop motion form, but it's perfect venue for his story that's based on his 2005 play. If the similarity of all the voices outside of Michael and Lisa seem disconcerting, it's entirely on purpose, and you'll see how well (all those voices are done by character actor Tom Noonan) of it fits together as the story progresses. As with much of Kaufman's work (I admire, but not always love, his movies), the abnormality and oddness is divisive, and if you're not used to realistic, full frontal puppet nudity and sex not to mention adult language in an animated movie, then this isn't for you, and also know this isn't a cute and cuddly cartoon for the kiddoes. Thewlis and current Oscar-nominee Leigh add energy and appeal to their characters, with one of the movie's most poignant scenes has Leigh singing a beautiful, wistful a cappella version of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (then again in Italian), one may leave tears in your eyes. "Anomalisa" is truly an anomaly, a stirring, thought-provoking stop-motion animated film for adults, just keep an open mind when you see it.
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