My enjoyment of this strange film, directed by Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman, was heightened by a review I read of it ahead of time that explained more deeply what the film was all about. I'll discuss that below, but first I'll give a basic overview of the plot for those who want to see it with a relatively blank slate.
Anomalisa is about a man, Michael Stone (David Thewlis), who travels to a hotel in Cinncinati, Ohio to give a presentation on good customer service. He appears to depressed and simply going through the motions. He has a vague plan to meet up with an ex-girlfriend (although he's married). The audience catches on sooner or later that something is off about all the people Michael interacts with. In fact, they all have the same voice (Tom Noonan)--both men and women, including Michael's son and wife.
Did I forget to mention that the characters are stop-motion puppets? This is an important fact.
Wife and son be damned, Michael falls as far deep in love as someone can within two minutes of meeting someone else. He is convinced that something is *different* about Lisa, and she pulls him right out of his funk. The world is a beautiful place again.
Ok, I'm going to talk about some potential spoilers below, so if you want to see this movie as blankly as possible, stop reading and rest assured that Anomalisa is a beautiful, though melancholy film. If you're a fan of Charlie Kaufman's work you probably know what you're in for: Anomalisa shares the soul of his other films (as writer), such as Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
***
But, as I said, my appreciation was heightened by knowing a little more about what this film might mean, simply beyond its exploration of the human desire to seek novelty.
Michael stays in a hotel called the Fregoli. There is a medical disorder called "Fregoli's delusion" in which the sufferer believes that different people around him/her are in fact the same person, but disguised. As I mentioned above, all the puppets in this film are voiced by the same actor, Tom Noonan, except for Michael and Lisa. All the other puppets also have the same flat eyes. Whether Michael is supposed to actually be suffering from this disorder, or if the film is simply a metaphor, is never explained...but I felt more compassion for Michael knowing about Fregoli's delusion and empathizing with how terrifying and/or isolating it must be to think that everyone around you is exactly the same. It made me sympathize with him when he plans, within hours of knowing Lisa, to leave his wife and child for her.
But the film does not have a happy ending, at least not for Michael. After a heartfelt night spent with Lisa (yes, there is puppet sex), Michael realizes that her voice is starting to change...she's becoming like the rest of them. He returns home, depressed once again. But Lisa has changed. Thinking of herself as unremarkable--even ugly--the time she spent with Michael, who practically worshipped her, has changed her outlook on life and herself. This distinct mixture of happiness and sadness is practically a trademark of Kaufman--think about the ending of Being John Malkovich, which finds deep sadness for the main protagonist, but happiness for some of the other characters. Or think of Eternal Sunshine, which has, for my money, one of the greatest and truest endings of a love story: when Clementine and Joel *know* they will grow to resent each other and, literally, say "Ok".
Anomalisa is like these other films--truly different without coming off as gimmicky. And truly poignant--i.e. too sad to be happy, but too hopeful to be devastating. It's a complicated film, and though it doesn't have the rewatchability factor that other Kaufman films have, it was well worth the ride.
Grade: A-
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