JANUARY 7, 2016
— PALM SPRINGS, CA
If you have kids and were thinking of taking them to see the new stop-motion puppet film “Anomalisa” because you think it looks like The Muppets, don’t. It’s not that the film isn’t good — in fact, it’s one of the most intellectually challenging films of the year. But unless you’re prepared to explain the concept of puppet cunnilingus to them, please stay home. More on that later.
“Anomalisa” is the latest work by writer/director Charlie Kaufman, whose imaginative (sometimes bizarrely imaginative) scripts have created a whole genre of film-writing — “Kaufman-esque” — with unusual non sequiturs and flights of fancy. I am much more of an admirer of Kaufman’s work than I am an acolyte, but he has been nominated for 3 Oscars, winning the prize for his script of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” so attention must be paid.
“Anomalisa” actually started out as a “sound play” for composer Carter Burwell’s Theater for the New Ear and performed some years ago at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Kaufman had never intended the project to become a film, but it was not until he was approached to consider the script as a stop-motion project that he acquiesced. Kaufman and stop-motion director Duke Johnson came on as co-directors, and this admittedly arty project was surprisingly picked up by Paramount Pictures in hopes for Oscar consideration. I think a nomination for Best Animated Feature is almost assured.
The film follows the travels of inspirational speaker Michael Stone (voiced by David Thewlis) as he flies into Cincinnati to give a talk based on his self-help book “How May I Help You Help Them?” As we see Michael putting up with a chatty seatmate, a chatty cabbie and a chatty hotel clerk (all visualized with the same bland Caucasian face and performed by the great voice actor Tom Noonan), we realize that for an inspirational speaker for customer service representatives, Michael is not much of a people person.
After he has an awkward phone conversation with his wife and son (both voiced by Noonan in a male voice), he orders room service and raids the mini-bar. He invites a former flame (Noonan again) for a drink — their reunion is as disastrous as their relationship turned out to be. At this point, the film is dragging, as I’ve seen this scenario on film before done much more effectively and am wondering why this has to be done with stop-motion puppetry.
Then Michael hears a non-Noonan voice outside his door. It’s the voice of an actual woman, and he knocks on many hotel doors until he finds big fan Lisa (wonderfully voiced by Jennifer Jason Leigh) and her roommate Emily (Noonan again). After drinks downstairs, he asks Lisa back to his room, where she confesses that she’s not your usual girl, as she feels like she’s an anomaly. Michael is charmed by that and nicknames her “Anoma-Lisa.” He then leads her into the aforementioned sexual act, as well as going all-the-way, which, along with full-frontal puppet nudity and rough language, results in the film’s much-deserved R-rating.
At last, Kaufman reveals why the stop-motion puppetry is appropriate, and it’s a clue that we had been given earlier in the film. Michael has checked into the luxurious Hotel Fregoli, and this is the key to understanding the film. The Fregoli delusion is a rare psychological disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that different people are in fact a single person who changes appearance or is in disguise. With all the characters other than Michael and Lisa looking alike (much easier to create with puppets) and voiced by the same person, it may mean for a moment that Michael’s delusion is real. And maybe it is.
Is “Anomalisa” going to win the Oscar? Doubtful. But is it worth your time? Definitely. There are ideas brewing here that you would rarely see in a live-action film.
Despite a slow start, “Anomalisa” finishes strong and will have you walking away that you’re glad for having seen it. Give in, and take a chance.
GRADE: B
