I got tricked into watching Anomalisa because of the amazing preview, but regret even watching one dreadful moment of the film. Anomalisa’s preview made me think that I was going to watch a tender, sensitive film about love and the human condition. If I was being charitable, Anomalisa is about our deep desire, but inability to make a deep human connection with another person.
Anomalisa is really is about a selfish author who suffers from an untreated mental disorder-everyone, male or female, young or old, sounds like Tom Noonan so you don’t have to adjust your sound or check imdb for the cast list. The author, a customer service expert meets self-help expert, is in Cinncinnati to speak at a convention. A famous customer service expert is so annoyingly plausible in our corporate speak, business school world. I know that his profession was probably chosen for ironic purposes, but the vibe of entitlement was so thick that I could not even appreciate the main character on a theoretical level.
David Thewlis provides the voice for the main character. I’m not a Thewlis follower, but I do love Mike Leigh’s work, and I recognized Thewlis’ voice instantly. Jennifer Jason Leigh also appears as a character so likeable that you will scream at her to run away from this train wreck of a man and stop undervaluing herself, which is the point. Anomalisa is visually interesting and uses stop-motion puppets with great aplomb, but not enough to make me want to watch again.
If you want to watch a film about an inane man who is rewarded and adored disproportionately to his talent or personality while being an insensitive lout, then Anomalisa is the film for you.