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The animated, adults-only drama "Anomalisa" is a sublime joy from the mind of Charlie Kaufman — a carefully nuanced story about a man, a woman and the mundane reality of the world apart from them.
Oh, and there's puppet sex. (More about that later.)
Michael Stone (voiced by David Thewlis) writes how-to guides for customer-service reps and is flying from L.A. to Cincinnati to speak at a business convention. Everything about the trip is boring to him, and there's a sameness about everyone he encounters — his wife back home, the cabby, the hotel clerk, even the ex-girlfriend with whom he arranges an ill-advised reunion.
We notice that all these people sound rather alike — and, in fact, they're all voiced by character actor Tom Noonan. After a bit, we also notice that they all have the same exact face.
Because of this, it's a shock to Michael — and to us — when he hears a voice that doesn't sound like the others. That voice belongs to Lisa Hesselman (voiced by Jennifer Jason Leigh), who is in town for the convention at which Michael is speaking. They meet, talk, have dinner and some drinks, and Michael starts believing he's falling in love.
Then comes the puppet sex, a love scene that is rather explicit, unabashedly strange and surprisingly tender all at once.
Kaufman and his co-director, the animator Duke Johnson, use these stop-motion figures to create characters that are emotionally real and physically surreal. They give a tangible form to Michael's boredom with the rest of the human race and his fascination with Lisa — a woman so different from the norm that she's an anomaly (hence the name Michael gives her, Anomalisa).
Providing the humanity to these characters is the job of the voice actors, and they shine. Noonan provides the perfect blandness to the movie's supporting roles, Thewlis (best known as Harry Potter's werewolf professor, Remus Lupin) conveys Michael's desperate melancholy, while Leigh delivers a wholesome innocence that's quite touching (and far removed from her Oscar-nominated role as the nasty prisoner in "The Hateful Eight").
"Anomalisa" maintains its sweet, slightly off-kilter vibe to the end, with a final shot that imagines a world deeper than Michael's sad-eyed view of it. The movie, like its title character, is an anomaly itself: a thoughtful, wondrous movie for grown-ups.
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'Anomalisa'
A how-to author discovers someone who doesn't fit into the pigeonholes around him in Charlie Kaufman's off-kilter animated drama.
Where • Broadway Centre Cinemas.
When • Opens Friday, Jan. 22.
Rating • R for strong sexual content, graphic nudity and language.
Running time • 90 minutes.
At Sundance • A screening of "Anomalisa," followed by a live conversation and Q&A with directors Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson, is set for Thursday, Jan 28, at 6 p.m., at the Library Center Theatre, 1255 Park Ave., Park City. Kaufman and Johnson also will take part in a Cinema Cafe talk, Saturday, Jan. 30, at 11 a.m., at the Filmmaker Lodge, 550 Main St., Park City.