Anomalisa

As Martin Luther King Jr. Day passed and I refused to take the trash that Hollywood offered me to help me celebrate such a wonderful day with the release of Ride Along 2, I thought back to my days of being caught up in a self-absorbed, repetitive, and mundane life. Now don’t get me wrong, I had a few interests in life, like music and movies, but the majority of my days were centered on this awful job I had at a Fortune 50 company. This was the type of job that brought me a 2 piece fried chicken dinner with a side of red beans and rice for lunch one day because it was MLK Day; I’m black by the way.

Now while I thought they’re racist but genuine attempt to take care of me was more amusing than it was offensive, the mere fact that they were that unbelievably out of touch let me know that it was high time for a serious change in my life. So now, instead of having a ton of money and being able to pay bills, I write movie reviews and fight dogs for their treats at local dog parks when it’s time for dinner.

The point of that depressing story is this, I had zero issues identifying with the lead character Michael Stone in Charlie Kaufman’s latest masterpiece Anomalisa. If you don’t remember who he is, he’s the guy that brought you Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind before almost destroying his career with Synecdoche, New York.

Well in his return to form, Kaufman brings us the story of a man who has lost his love and his passion for pretty much anything in life. This is includes his family, his friends, and basically any form of social interaction with anything that’s not a cigarette or a vodka bottle; and any mention of doing anything exciting is met with total disdain and impatience on his part. Honestly, it feels as though he’s going to throw himself off of a bridge at any given moment given his general mood. That is until he meets the wonderful and compelling Lisa; she is unlike anything he has experienced in years and she slowly begins to awaken his lust for life.

Now so far this sounds like the typical sappy love drama that you would normally see on the Lifetime Network but anyone who knows Kaufman knows that his films are far from ordinary. This film is full of his unique quirkiness as the movie is filmed using stop-animation with 3D-printed face plates to add to the oddity of the story. There is also his typical humor which somehow makes you feel as though you’re in on some random inside joke that no one else gets but at the same time is easily accessible to everyone else. And then of course there’s the uncomfortably graphic but surprisingly necessary puppet sex scene; it’s hilarious and moving at the same time, something only Kaufman can pull off.

I can’t get into it or the fact that everyone but Michael and Lisa have the same voice too much without ruining the film for you but just know that this movie is like nothing you’ve ever experienced before. It’s an honest look into what we as humans bring into relationships, our self-absorption, and how hard it is for us to change as we get further along in life.

So in this month that is full of detritus, I suggest you make an effort to go see this intelligent and moving film as it gets a solid rating of FRESH!