Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Anomalisa Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 4, 2016

Anomalisa is about a brief moment of clarity and light in an otherwise dark and unimaginative world, at least within one man's perception of it. The film, from Directors Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman, the latter of whom helmed Synecdoche, New York and wrote Being John Malkovich, tells a rather dark tale of exclusion from the world, loneliness, and an inability to find the spark in life. The film pits two people who are in some ways similar to one another and in others opposite from one another. One is a man who makes his living by helping others but who cannot help himself, and the other a woman who also makes a living helping others but who cannot or will not help herself. The man is lost in the world, the woman is lost within herself. He bears emotional scars. She bears a physical scar. Both wounds leave the people closed off an unable to find the truth within themselves or the best of the world around them. It's a fascinating case study with enough psychological depth to fill a textbook and enough re-watchability to sort it out on multiple viewings. But Kaufman and Johnson do a remarkable job of handling the story's complexities with a perfect blend of easily identifiable overtones, subtle depth, and heavy psychology underneath to make the movie at once both approachable and necessarily complex. This is storytelling and a study of the human condition at their finest.

Michael Stone (voiced by David Thewlis) is a well-known customer service guru. He's a published author and has more than his share of fans within the support service world. He's flown in to Cincinnati for a speech and a quick turn-around back home to Los Angeles. Michael is a unique individual. He suffers from Fregoli Delusion, meaning he sees and hears everyone as a single person (all voiced by Tom Noonan). He checks into his hotel and settles into his room. He decides to give an old flame a phone call. The two meet but it quickly turns disastrous. A disillusioned Michael finds hope when he hears a unique female voice in the hallway. After pounding on a few nearby doors, he finds her: she's Lisa (voiced by Jennifer Jason Leigh), a woman who is staying at the hotel with a co-worker, both of whom are in town to hear Michael speak. The three of them get together for drinks and Michael finds himself increasingly infatuated with Lisa. She's different. She sounds different, she looks different. But she's shy. She bears a physical scar on her face that she cover with her hair. The two eventually return to Michael's room where they share an intimate moment. But can their newfound attraction break them out of their respective shells and allow them to live the life they've been missing all these years?

He doesn't know who he is. She is afraid of who she is. Anomalisa offers a contrast between the characters. On one hand is a man who sees everyone the same way -- everyone shares the same face and speaks with the same voice -- but he, somehow, sees and hears her differently. And it's exciting. Alluring. Something new. There's a spark, a purpose, something about her that sets her apart. Maybe he sees himself in her, just in a different manifestation of the same problem. She is different, too, to the point that she doesn't want to be seen. She fears her physical scar and is always degrading herself, playfully for the mot part but by doing so only magnifying a deeper trouble underneath. Yet she is the only one he sees. She is the one that stands out, makes him happy, puts a spring in his step, sets fire to his dormant passion. Her flaw makes her real. And he, too, allows her to slowly, but surely, remove her guard, to allow herself to be praised, loved, and admired for who she is beyond the one thing she has allowed to come to define her. It's a very interesting juxtaposition, about how one human perceives another and how those perceptions are as much an inward reflection as they are an outward reflection. The movie's final act says much more about the characters -- him in particular -- but for the sake of not spoiling the movie, it's best to leave it to the audience to sort out what it means and how it all comes to either solidify or redefine what the audience has come to know about Michael Stone.

Crafting the movie with puppets actually helps to reinforce the story's themes about identity and perception. While Anomalisa is worth a watch for its technical workmanship, the film uses its scale and characters to great effect and, eventually, the puppetry gives way to the themes and the audience embraces story over visuals, context over flesh and bone. The work here is remarkable. Built to 1/6 scale, everything looks amazing, from characters and locations to small touches like ice cubes, a meter in a taxi, or a phone in a room. Everything in the film represents a clear labor of love for the material and the craftsmanship necessary to make it live and breathe. The world is amazingly well detailed, down to rain on windows, condensation on a bathroom mirror, even a urine stream that looks remarkably fluid and lifelike. Characters are a little jerky by design, but again it's the voice talents of David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Tom Noonan that help overcome the puppetry's inherent limitations and make the movie soar. The voice talent is remarkable, with the leads giving an incredible sense of life, self, and purpose to the characters and Noonan doing a remarkable job of voicing any number of support characters with the same rhythm necessary to accentuate Michael's perception of the world. The supplements included on the Blu-ray disc -- particularly the 30-minute making-of -- do a remarkable job of expanding on the intricacies of the production; it's a must-watch compliment to the movie (more below).

Anomalisa Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Anomalisa's 1080p transfer presents the puppets and supportive details nicely enough. Close-ups manage to reveal plenty of fine, intricate detailing, on the puppets in particular -- textural skin materials, miniature clothing fabrics -- but also one some of the broader surfaces where minor imperfections in materials and workmanship are plainly visible. Basic clarity and the 1080p resolution allow for all of the hotel room accents, the hallway carpeting, the ornate lobby, and a more barren bottom floor location to impress in the delivery of more generalized environmental details. Colors are fine; the image is rather warm but clothing finds a good, natural balance, as do various objects around different set pieces seen in the film. Black levels are fine. Light banding creeps up a few times but other unwanted intrusions are never a factor.

Anomalisa Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Anomalisa features a fairly pedestrian, but technically sound, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The film's sound design never really demands much from the sound system. Basic ambient effects on a plane or in a hotel bar are pleasing enough, with a good bit of well pronounced environmental details that help draw the listener into a few of the movie's environments. The subwoofer kicks in on a few occasions with a nicely complimentary burst of low end power to better help define a scene. Music is clear and detailed with positive stage saturation. Dialogue is the primary comment, and the spoken word holds true in the center, yielding fine natural clarity and prioritization.

Anomalisa Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Anomalisa contains three featurettes, including a fascinating and detailed making-of. A DVD copy of the film and a voucher for a UV/iTunes digital copy are included with purchase.

• None of Them Are You: Crafting Anomalisa (1080p, 30:03): A look back at the production's history, including its stage production, voice casting, using authentic voice performances and matching the stop motion animation to the raw vocal performances, the "Fregoli Delusion," character design, the grueling animation process and the challenges inherent to it, digital support elements, difficulties during the shoot, and more.
• Intimacy in Miniature (1080p, 9:22): Making the movie's sex scene.
• The Sound of Unease (1080p, 5:42): ensuring an authentic sound design.

Anomalisa Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Anomalisa is a powerful, fascinating, and thought-provoking film that's visually unique and thematically rich. It's layered and detailed both visually and dramatically and the intensive labor of love behind its creation is evident in every shot. The voice acting is terrific and only accentuates the movie's broader story and intimate themes alike. Paramount's Blu-ray release of Anomalisa features solid video and audio. Supplements are few in number but very informative and a must-watch compliment to the movie. Highly recommended.