Anomalisa,
directed by Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman
(R, 90 minutes)
Anomalisa is a kind of puppet show, a fascinating and moving piece of stop-motion photography. It's funny and sad and startlingly original, which makes sense since it's written and co-directed by Charlie Kaufman, who wrote the screenplays for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich.
The film begins with an airliner's descent into Cincinnati, which holds memories for motivational speaker Michael Stone (voiced by David Thewlis). A decade earlier Stone had a relationship with Bella, who lives there, and that relationship ended badly.
After a cab ride to his luxe hotel, he phones and endures an awkward meeting with his ex in the hotel bar. But then he's distracted by a call-center worker named Lisa (voiced by Jennifer Jason Leigh), who's a fan of Stone's books. She has spent more than she can afford to attend his seminar, sharing a room with a girlfriend she assumes is more attractive and smarter than she is.
But Michael is interested in Lisa, who seems to him more real than everyone else in the world. For Michael's numbed perspective, all humanity looks and sounds the same. All characters, save for Michael and Lisa, are voiced by veteran character actor Tom Noonan, who gives them all the same customer-service lilt whether it's Michael's wife scolding him or the bellboy pointing out the features of Michael's junior suite in the same complaisant voice.
The title comes from a conversation in which Michael and Lisa discuss the word "anomaly" and the common self-deception humans commit when they think themselves special. When Michael calls Lisa Anomalisa, he might be teasing her; she worries that she's too dull to discern his cruelty. And we come to understand the depths of Michael's desperation. There's nothing like easy ennui to make you want to scream.
Zootopia (PG, 108 minutes) On an earth where human beings have never appeared, a determined and impatient police officer named Judy, who happens to be a bunny, has come to the DMV (Department of Mammal Vehicles) to run a trace on a license plate involved in the disappearance of an otter. Much to her chagrin, the department employees are all sloths, whose slow-moving characteristics hamper her investigation.
Animated adventure Zootopia spends most of its time getting by on having cute characters and reminding viewers that first impressions and stereotypes can be misleading. If the movie's lesson gets redundant, it may be because we two-legged creatures have a troubling habit of learning more slowly than the sloths at the DMV shuffle their forms.
Some of the best sequences are quietly clever. Pay close attention to the population sign outside Judy's childhood village. Stereotypes aside, rabbits do keep census takers busy. With the voices of Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba; directed by Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Jared Bush.
Hail, Caesar! (PG-13, 105 minutes ) A lightweight Coen brothers production, this entertaining star-stocked comedy takes on classic Hollywood and its movies. It concerns a day in the complicated life of a studio fixer who has no trouble filling up the hours with one calamity after another. With Josh Brolin, Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, Frances McDormand.
The Martian (PG-13, 141 minutes) Andy Weir's novel about an American astronaut accidentally marooned on Mars, which began as a self-published e-book before becoming a huge best-seller, is rife with the good and the bad. He incorporates hard science in that his astronaut, Mark Watney, left on the red planet by a crew who had to assume him lost and dead during an emergency escape, spends a good deal of his time having to solve survival problems and using logical calculations to help determine his best course of action.
Where the novel falters is in its lack of emotional depth and introspection. Director Ridley Scott, well aware of the material's flatness, pours his energies into creating a kind of hyped-up survival procedural that proves to be narratively enjoyable, if not emotionally seductive. It also helps the film no end to have Damon playing the lead, creating a sympathetic portrait of a man using humor and irreverence to stay the demons of terror that we assume must be constantly nipping at his heels -- although the loneliness of his situation never seems to bother him.
Mr. Right (R, 90 minutes) A completely implausible plot is saved from going off the rails by the lead performances in this kinetic comedy: A hyperactive woman named Martha (the always funny Anna Kendrick) finds the perfect match in Francis (Sam Rockwell), who's just as off-the-wall and she is, with the added bonus of being a professional hitman whose services are much in demand. With Anson Mount, Tim Roth, James Ransone; directed by Paco Cabezas.
Touched With Fire (unrated, 110 minutes) Intense, authentic, and intent on conveying a message, this romantic drama concerns two poets with bipolar disorder who discover an instant attraction between them when they meet at a treatment facility. What's more important, sanity or love? With Katie Holmes, Griffin Dunne, Luke Kirby; directed by bipolar filmmaker Paul Dalio.
The Confirmation (PG-13, 90 minutes ) A barely employed carpenter, minding his 8-year-old son while his mom and new husband are away, sees a peaceful weekend turned inside out when his prized toolbox is stolen and the two embark on a wacky, unpredictable adventure to get it back. With Clive Owen, Maria Bello, Patton Oswalt, Stephen Tobolowsky; directed by Bob Nelson.
MovieStyle on 06/10/2016