An emotional tale
ANOMALISA ( Cert 15; 90mins)
ANIMATION isn’t just for children. The brilliant stop- motion animation Anomalisa is the latest work from Charlie Kaufman, creator of Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich, and it’s a wistful reflection on our constant aching for human connections and the fleeting nature of true happiness.
It is witty, charming, unexpectedly moving and completely irresistible. In a world of predictable fodder it feels like a true original which is exactly in keeping with the themes of the film.
David Thewlis provides the dry, world- weary voice of Michael Stone, a customer services guru with a thriving career that takes him all over America. He enjoys a degree of celebrity as the author of the bestselling How May I Help You Help Them? His personal life is less satisfactory and he seems to suffer from a form of depression or disillusion with the human race.
Everyone seems the same to him. They have the same faces, the same petty problems, the same daily routines and he views the world as a place devoid of originality or inspiration.
Kaufman and co- director Duke Johnson underline Michael’s sense of bland uniformity by having everyone he meets speak with the same voice. A hotel receptionist, an old flame, even Michael’s wife and son are all brought to life by the neutral tones of Tom Noonan.
On a visit to Cincinnati for a speaking engagement Michael checks into the Hotel Fregoli. A bruising, toe- curlingly awkward encounter with a former girlfriend merely confirms Michael’s desperate loneliness.
He is more needy than ever by the time he meets two fans who are in town for the conference and determined to have a good time. Emily doesn’t interest him but Lisa is captivating. She is ordinary. She is not stunningly beautiful or a high achiever but she is independent and an individual. Unlike everyone else she has a voice of her own, provided by Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Michael recognises her as someone special from the moment he meets her and love is definitely in the air. However in Michael’s world nothing is that straightforward.
The really astonishing thing about Anomalisa is the humanity of the film. The animated characters feel so real, vulnerable and complex that you can’t help but take them to your heart. The level of detail is impressive and the range of expression is so vivid that you forget these are not flesh and blood actors you’re seeing before you.
It helps that David Thewlis and Jennifer Jason Leigh are at the top of their game and make every sigh, hesitation and muttered aside count.
You feel more invested in the fate of Michael and Lisa than in the cardboard characters that appear in a typical Hollywood blockbuster. You care about them, you feel for them, you want things to work out for them. If that isn’t the ultimate compliment you can pay an animated film then I don’t know what is.
The DivergenT series: AllegiAnT
( Cert 12A; 121mins)
THE Divergent Series has never caught the imagination in the same way as The Hunger Games or Harry Potter. Too derivative perhaps? Too complicated? Veronica Roth’s final novel Allegiant has been broken down into two films and events seem more convoluted and less plausible than ever.
Our heroine Tris ( Shailene Woodley), loyal love interest Four ( Theo James), self- serving Peter ( Miles Teller) and their allies have lived to fight another day. They stumble through a grisly no- man’s land to discover a futuristic Chicago intended to house all the victims of a government plan to meddle with the DNA of the population.
The experiment didn’t quite go according to plan and its legacy lies at the heart of the story and the civil war brewing between the forces led by Evelyn ( Naomi Watts) and Johanna ( Octavia Spencer). Jeff Daniels lends his customary authority to the role of Bureau Of Genetic Welfare boss David but Tris gets a little lost amid all the competing plot strands. Allegiant