Review of Anomalisa (2015) by Michael G — 20 Aug 2016

I really enjoyed the first like 60% but then it got overly Kaufman for my taste. With his films in general, I love how human and true his characters are. But then I feel like he takes symbolism and metaphors way too far. If your characters really are so human, which his are, and if your script is great, then you shouldn't need to completely overdo the way the story is told.

When Vince Gilligan turned in the first draft of the Breaking bad pilot it had songs wall-to-wall. Just song after song. The AMC exec asked him if he wasn't confident that his characters and screenplay could carry themselves. And that's how I feel about Kaufman's story telling. Like is he not confident he can convey this truth and heaviness with character and screenplay alone? It's almost as if he goes "I have to make this emotion so clear that we're no longer watching characters and their story but instead we're watching an embodiment of this idea.".

There's a beauty in subtlety that I always feel he understands until the plot inevitably runs off the rails in his attempt to shove the message down your throat.