"$9.99" is a priceless journey in search of the meaning of life

The stop-motion animated world of "$9.99" is a marvel to behold.

Israeli-born, American-educated filmmaker Tatia Rosenthal — with a small crew of gifted animators — has created a beguiling microcosm of humanity in one-sixth scale, manipulating a variety of offbeat characters the size of Barbie dolls in a setting that could be any city, anywhere, in keeping with her story's universal appeal.

This Australian-Israeli coproduction is also blessed by a unique collaboration: As a New York University film student, Rosenthal had created two animated shorts based on the short stories of Israeli writer Etgar Keret, who was so impressed that he suggested they adapt several of his stories as the basis of Rosenthal's stop-motion feature debut. The result is a perfect symbiosis of creative sensibilities, combining Rosenthal's wonderfully detailed naturalism with Keret's magic realism, in a seemingly mundane world full of life-affirming possibilities.

It's in this folksy, somewhat melancholy world that 28-year-old slacker Dave Peck (voiced by Samuel Johnson) buys a booklet (cover price: $9.99) promising to explain the meaning of life. The booklet apparently delivers on its promise, and with limited success Dave attempts to share his newfound wisdom with the other residents of his apartment block. They include his father (Anthony LaPaglia); a lonely retiree (Barry Otto) who's acquired a disgruntled guardian angel (Geoffrey Rush); a boy with a cherished piggy-bank; a teacher whose fiancé hangs out with an imaginary trio of 2-inch-tall frat-boys; and Dave's brother Lenny, who'll do anything to please his supermodel girlfriend, who likes her men — and her furniture — as smooth as a baby's bottom.

Structured around its characters like the black-comedy classic "Delicatessen," Rosenthal's film also recalls the whimsy of Jane Campion's similarly enchanting 1983 short "Passionless Moments," with a grown-up frankness that hints at the secrets of happiness in a frequently unhappy world. It's those passionless moments that sometimes matter most, and "$9.99" fills them with an inspired passion all its own.

Jeff Shannon: j.sh@verizon.net