Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

proud_luddite Michael (voiced by David Thewlis) is a middle-aged, upper-middle class family man travelling to Cincinnati to deliver a corporate lecture on customer service. While there, he reacquaints with an ex-lover who was heartbroken by their breakup and then shows interest in another young woman whom he meets at the hotel. "Anomalisa" is a stop-motion animated film.The film begins with some questions. One is, why are all the characters' faces split in the middle? Another is, why are all the women's voices (except one) voiced by a man? (In fact, Tom Noonan voices all the men as well except Michael.)The answer to the first question takes time after the film's conclusion but the second is more easily answered during a breakfast scene near the movie's end.The highlight - and a big one at that - is a romantic conversation scene followed by a sex scene. The sex scene is warm, loving, and compassionate. This is a rarity as sex scenes in most modern films are cheap, vulgar, and casual. The romantic scene that precedes it is even more compelling.Lisa (voiced by Jennifer Jason Leigh) could easily represent many modern young women (and perhaps young men too) who seem to find every reason possible to believe that they are "not good enough". Lisa measures herself according to the more superficial societal standards of looks, career success, education level, and perceived intelligence. In this powerful scene, Michael is easily able to see Lisa's greatness despite her low self-esteem.As a character study, Michael could be called a sex/love addict or someone with pathological intimacy issues. This is evidenced in an earlier scene with an ex-lover and further exposed throughout the movie.There is an implication that much of Michael's misery comes from the corporatization of our modern world - something he helped create. The film could have been even more fascinating if it dealt further with this theme.However, it remains above par and how could it not be? The screenplay is by the brilliant Charlie Kaufman who also co-directed with Duke Johnson. As the writer of such gems as "Being John Malkovich" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", his latest could only be equally unusual in a fascinating way. Likewise, Thewlis and Leigh are very powerful in their roles.

Norbert Hanny OK, first about the play with the words: Anomalisa = Anomalia + Lisa, but there is another jungian reference here: ANIMA. Anima is the image of the ideal woman in every man's subcosciousness. Whenever we meet even the tiniest fragment of Anima in a real-life woman, we feel an immediate attraction, whether it is a gesture, or the sound of her voice... However, when we realize that the woman is still not Anima, well... 10 points for the genuine basic idea!

magnuslhad Michael is a customer service guru on jaunt in a nondescript hotel. He is jaded and misanthropic, everyone around him seems to get on his nerves. And these is a sameness about them... The ennui is wonderfully conveyed, and the process of using puppets in stop-motion adds to the sense of non-belonging and dislocation. Michael's dark soul is complemented by Lisa and her zest for life. The burgeoning relationship is both awkward and sweet, but, we sense, ultimately doomed. The sense of a man in middle-age crisis, of people living compartmentalised lives, is fully conveyed. There is some nice humour and pathos. But ultimately nothing much changes for Michael or Lisa, and any greater insight to life's many questions is not forthcoming. Take away the puppets and the process, and you are left with a film that says not very much at all.

Mace While an adult stop-motion drama about a midlife crisis and mental illness may sound mundane as a concept, this is quite possibly Kaufman's sharpest and most absorbing film yet. Charlie Kaufman has already proved himself to be one of the smartest, most creative visionary directors/writers working today. He has yet to make an unoriginal film even as his vibrant style stretches over a career spanning 40 years. Anomalisa is certainly Kaufman's tamest work when compared to the outlandish concepts of Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, but it is also one of his most engaging. A grounded perception of mental illness affecting a lonely, middle-aged man in the centre of a richly-detailed, yet maddening, world. The concept will never sound as appealing as it really is, but upon viewing, the film's subtle messages on love and identity will surely resonate with any viewer, no matter their age. Even with an ending that hints upon a concept that I wish was further explored, Anomalisa expresses it's thought-provoking story through detailed character interactions, a wry script and brilliant voice performances from the extremely limited cast that had me daydreaming of the film's beauty long after watching.