Sunday, June 26, 2016

Anomalisa

The Gist: A successful writer and motivational speaker is having an existential crisis. Unsatisfied with his marriage, he tries to reconnect with an old flame only to be turned down. That's when he meets the woman he thinks is the one.

Anomalisa is not your typical movie. It's an animated movie for adults (strictly!), but uses stop animation rather than the typical computer generated characters.

It's also quite minimalist as the cast goes: two actors play the main two characters while a third voices all the others. This, however, causes a bit of confusion when you hear what sounds like a man's voice but it's a woman who is speaking.

The story is interesting and well written, but also a bit puzzling in its meta subtext. It certainly succeeds in generating a whole array of emotions, as it's both funny and sad, exalting and depressing.

The Bottom Line: While Anomalisa might leave many people wondering what the fuss is all about (critics have raved about it), it's still worth watching. Beware its writer though, as Charlie Kaufman does not typically meet the favors of the average moviegoer.

Grade: 7

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