Just so...so bad

Great Film overall

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Anomalisa is a dreary and pretentious art piece about a wealthy, neurotic, middle aged limey (who is a married) who preys upon and manipulates a woman much younger than him. The filmmakers expect us to feel sympathy for this delusional weirdo (in which he thinks all people except this young woman) are the same person. At the conclusion of the film I ended up hating the main character, felt really unnerved by the creepy animation and that uncomfortable sex scene, and felt completely empty because the film just left me with a very bad taste in my mouth. The film was marketed as moving and touching but incidentally was a needlessly stupid pity party about one crazy old guy's first world problems and unhealthy libido. Skip it.

Charlie Kaufman is never one to shy away from exploring the most uncomfortable, intimate, and innately human aspects of our civilisation. As he did in his directorial debut, "Synecdoche, New York", Kaufman delves into the psychology of isolation in "Anomalisa", the concept of believing that there is no one in this life who is unique or special or able to understand you, and ultimately, what happens when we push away those that do when we finally find them. What a stunning display of film-making

Despite me watching 5 airing TV series and 2 completed ones, seeing 3 movies and played one story-driven video game, I am still thinking about Anomalisa week after seeing it and all this other stuff. Keeping the rating at 5/10 has been an uncertainty for me, but I have now decided to call it a 6/10 work. Anomalisa is definitely thought-provoking, unique and even memorable experience. The execution is very different from anything that's been done before. It feels heavy on substance even though it rides with the power of a single sentence. Some would go as far as calling this a masterpiece. Some think it has nothing to offer. Should have been 40 minutes long short film instead. I will just say this: is not necessarily a must watch, but it is a must try.

Acclaimed Writer-Director Charlie Kaufman's films might not be for everyone, and they are an acquired taste; but one thing for sure is that Kaufman is an anomaly in so many filmmaking ways. Kaufman goes for the stop-motion animation in his movie "Anomalisa", which he co-directed with animation Director Duke Johnson. Anomalisa's protagonist is Michael Stone, a middle-aged motivational business speaker & author who travels to Cincinnati for a gig as a keynote speaker at a conference. Stone finds people and life in general very monotonous and with much sameness. But things go anomalistic when he meets Lisa, a depressed telemarketing representative who is attending the conference. Michael sees Lisa as a vibrant, standout woman and falls for her. His "hands of Stone" even get in Lisa's private parts. OK, that is enough. I will let you figure it out. But I do highly recommend to visit this eccentric, visionary film that had me quite engaged throughout its narrative. There is spectacular voice work from David Thewlis who voices Stone, Jennifer Jason-Leigh who voices Lisa, and Tom Noonan who voices everyone else. The animation was divine, and the score was right on. Kaufman's screenplay was a simplistic but original tour-de-force. And Johnson and him directed the hell out of "Anomalisa". Anomalisa! Anomalisa! Men have loved you!!! Hope women love it too, because it is in motion as a "must see" stop-motion animation treat. ***** Excellent