Written and directed by Charlie Kaufman who brought us other quirky films – Being John Malkovich, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind – brings us a masterpiece done in stop-motion, which turns out to be the most ‘human’ movie of the year.
From the first minute of the frame, we’re utterly hooked on the plot without even knowing where the heck it’s headed. But Michael Stone (voiced by David Thewlis) is a best-selling author. He just wants the voices in his head to think, not bothered by the interruption of the taxi driver, desk clerk and luggage boy when he arrives at a Cincinnati hotel for a conference. But he’s debating whether to contact the love-of-his-life from ten years ago. And if he does, what might he do with her?
He’s a motivational speaker to be on podium tomorrow to talk about his book HOW MAY I HELP YOU HELP THEM. The irony is he has no direction. And then he meets Lisa (voice of Jennifer Jason Lee) a fan at the hotel bar.
Michael as a ‘puppet’ is more raw and emotionally real than any human could be. We can actually smell, taste and feel Michael’s anxieties and his flaws. We hinge on his every word, every vulnerability and every regret.
[sidenote: as a professional writer myself, revolving in a constant world of male writers, I can name ten household-name-author- friends who struggle as this character. This is truly a movie for those on the inside…it’s about a public being ridiculously starstruck by celebrity, and the place of ego and narcissism that the celebrity can go to while taking advantage of a world that doesn’t know how it works]. This is love, or something like it, since Michael Stone is really in love with himself.
For the viewer: eventually one’s demons catch up with them. But the patterns repeats until (perhaps a sequel?) we finally face out truth. Or a girl named Anomalisa.