I had read some advice a few months ago in The A.V. Club to avoid any information about this film unless I was a Kaufman agnostic, which I am not, and so I studiously avoided any articles or trailers. I was aware the film was out but I really wanted to see 'The Witch' and so I thought I'd see this later if it was still on. When I arrived, however, the screening had been cancelled and I hurriedly picked up a ticket for this and sat down, not knowing what to expect.
It didn't take an awfully long time for me to get back into a Kaufman groove and I enjoyed Michael's uncomfortable moment on the plane at the beginning. I was very taken with how intricately made the sets were and charmed by the little details like the way the toilet paper was folded into a triangle in the hotel room. I like the slow pace and the awkwardness, and after Michael checked into the hotel I thought to myself, "that bellhop sounds an awful lot like the clerk." When Michael goes down to the hotel bar, it finally dawned on me: everyone apart from Michael has the same face and the same voice. This realisation, a little late though it may have been, had me smiling for the rest of the film. I don't know of anyone but Charlie Kaufman who would create something like this.
Despite the entire cast being made up of puppets, they're able to convey a tenderness and humanity that goes beyond what I can remember seeing in most films in the last few years. Lisa singing Girls Just Wanna Have Fun manages to be the most powerful moment in the film, making me feel embarrassed, amused and then achingly sad. David Thewlis' vocal performance grated on me enormously but the more I think about it, I don't think that Michael could have been voiced in any other way.
I've been thinking about this film almost constantly since I went to see it. I work in telephony-based customer service and the film explores many of the issues that I think about day-to-day. I look forward to being able to explore the depths of the film again but I don't think it'll settle anything - this will stay with me for a long time and there's nothing more I could ask for from a Kaufman film.
