Review of Anomalisa (2015) by Sonickoala — 27 Jan 2016

I was profoundly disappointed by this movie. Evidently, as some of his previous works demonstrate, Kaufman has the capacity to write complex, emotionally moving films that explore the human condition and encourage the audience to reflect on life and what it means to be.

"Anomalisa" is not one of them. This film feels so haphazard and disjointed; there's an utter lack of thematic cohesion and its attempts to provoke some kind of emotional response from the audience fall utterly flat. I can't remember the last time I've been so misled by a trailer; the clips and quotes you hear in the trailer are literally the best lines in the film, and within the larger context of "Anomalisa" itself, they lack any sort of punch. The universal voice idea is an interesting one, but it's used with limited effect in the film.

I won't deny that the film has some interesting things to say, but the way it presents these ideas is so poor and schizophrenic; they're just abruptly thrown into the dialogue in such an amateurish fashion. It's almost hard to believe this is the same mind behind films like "Eternal Sunshine" or "Synecdoche".

I simply can't recommend this film to anyone, even to fans of Kaufman's previous work. This is a movie that really could have benefited from a longer run-time, as it was sorely wanting for further character and general thematic development.