Animated documentary. Directed by Michel Gondry. With Noam Chomsky, Michel Condry. (Not rated. 88 minutes.)
The refreshingly audacious “Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy?” is not so much a documentary as a rambling interview, almost all done in animation.
It’s like a cartoon version of “My Dinner With Andre,” only the chatty participants are the no-nonsense intellectual Noam Chomsky and the film’s playful director, Michel Gondry, who directed the equally inspired “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”
On paper, Chomsky and Gondry seem like an eternal mismatch, but these two very smart people share an odd but genuine chemistry, as the director quizzes the philosopher-cognitive scientist on almost every topic under the sun, with the notable exception of politics (odd, perhaps, considering Chomsky’s well-documented criticism of the U.S. government).
One of the best scenes is when Gondry asks Chomsky, out of the blue, what makes him happy. The linguist appears to be caught off guard and is briefly (very briefly) at a loss for words – a moment that humanizes this intellectual giant.
The film, not by accident, never gains momentum as a story: Few topics in the wide-ranging interview are explored with any length, and there’s little glue to keep the whimsical interludes together. But you never stop being interested in what Chomsky has to say, or admiring Gondry’s deceptively simple drawings, which burst onto the screen like a stream of animated consciousness.
In fact, you may find yourself on overload as you simultaneously weigh Chomsky’s complex observations and savor Gondry’s wildly creative illustrations. It’s a pleasant problem for the viewer to have.
David Lewis is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail:davidlewis@sfchronicle.com
Available in theaters and I Tunes
