Review of Anomalisa (2015) by Tiberio S — 27 Feb 2017

I've come to realize that I am further driven by the experience within a movie and less by plot devices actively forcing you to think ahead of the movie. Anomalisa might be too much experience at times and drag on, such as when Lisa talks and sings for too long. We half expect Michael Stone will actually get sick of it and quickly lose the spirit he gained upon hearing her lovely voice for the first time. He doesn't appear as annoyed as we may get, but late in the third act there will be other things about her that annoy him, after he's decided she's the one and he's going to leave his wife for her. What a cruel thing to happen to Lisa, who hasn't had anyone interested in her in 8 years, and who perceives herself undesirable. Her whole self-esteem has been reignited by this man she idolizes, who loves her for hearing a voice other than Tom Noonan, which is what the rest of the world sounds like.

There's something peculiarly funny about the fact that this animated film portrays the foreplay and act of sex itself more patiently and realistically than any live action film I've seen - it's an intriguing scene. The way they follow up with breakfast, a staple of the first night sex experience, when the durability of such an encounter is tested for ephemerality or lastingness. Quickly we see things turn on him, the way she eats with her mouth full, his hypocritical way of calling her advice controlling while he finds each little thing she does tedious. And then the dread comes, hearing Tom Noonan eclipse her voice as she eclipses the sunlight beaming through the window, and Michael falls to hopelessness.

I love the experiences Kaufman is keen on giving us - everything about the hotel, the walk to the ice machine, ordering room service, the phone symbols, etc. The way Michael looks across the clouds at the other plane flying from his window, the camera slowly drifting through a majestic sky.

The ghost of Bella didn't seem to add up to much, but I liked how it was used when we did see it, particularly how it followed him to Dino's Toy Shop, which turns out to be a sex store lit with Christmas lights inside. He ends up buying an antique geisha sex toy for his son, hoping any perversion is not obvious about it.

Michael's failure to find love leads him back home, a surprise party waiting for him, and nobody he recognizes. Everyone is the same. He seems apathetic towards his wife, his son only cares about what's bought for him, and he has only his geisha toy to fondly look upon.

The everybody sounds the same device works wonderfully. The animation style separates itself, perhaps for the sake of separating itself. Three short moments I can recall make use of the facial separators, the most intriguing one happening in a dream. I think this may have been the most unsatisfying point for me, as I was hoping to see his nightmare become the reality of the film. When it's revealed to be a dream, I'm kind of let down. I love how strange the setup is, the hotel manager calling him down to this strange basement office with a Temple of Doom red pit placed before his desk, which you can drive into on the golf cart if you're not careful. Inevitably the manager reveals he's brought him down because of the fact that Michael had a girl in his room overnight, but his problem isn't anything other than the fact that he loves him and would rather Michael have the affair with him or his staff. Then everyone in the hotel is after him and Lisa, and they have to find an escape. During this, he loses his jaw, and we see whatever it is holding him up behind him, revealing the lack of humanity these characters are physically, despite what emotions they portray. This was getting fun, and it only being a dream is just disappointing.