Synecdoche, New York is a great movie with a well developed plot and a tremendous cast that help combine the naturalism, as well as absurdity, of the film brilliantly. It is immensely weird from beginning to end, not something anyone who is a fan of Charlie Kaufman will be surprised to hear. There are moments that are very tense, laugh out loud hilarious, and parts where you will not have an utmost clue of what is going on, this is exactly what makes the film immensely interesting, and always kept me engaged.
It is, unfortunately, not as strong as some of Kaufman's other work, it is certainly no Being John Malkovich or Adaptation in my eyes. While these films are equally weird, they are always telling a story at their core and developing rich, unique characters. However, Synecdoche does go for something to react to over something that serves the plot to the degree that it is just being risky for the sake of being risky at points.
The cast is all around terrific, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson and Tom Noonan all deliver particularly stand out performances and make their bonkers roles look effortless. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is absolutely tremendous as Caden Cotard, an immensely conflicted, three dimensional and mind boggling creation, going back and forth from being likeable to unredeemable again and again, he handled this rollercoaster with brilliant ease.
Sometimes weird just for the sake of being weird, but consistently had me invested. Synecdoche New York may not be Kaufman's greatest work, but it is a thoroughly entertaining film that I would recommend to fans.
A theatre director starts to lose focus with reality while working on his riskiest project yet.
Best Performance: Phillip Seymour Hoffman
It is, unfortunately, not as strong as some of Kaufman's other work, it is certainly no Being John Malkovich or Adaptation in my eyes. While these films are equally weird, they are always telling a story at their core and developing rich, unique characters. However, Synecdoche does go for something to react to over something that serves the plot to the degree that it is just being risky for the sake of being risky at points.
The cast is all around terrific, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson and Tom Noonan all deliver particularly stand out performances and make their bonkers roles look effortless. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is absolutely tremendous as Caden Cotard, an immensely conflicted, three dimensional and mind boggling creation, going back and forth from being likeable to unredeemable again and again, he handled this rollercoaster with brilliant ease.
Sometimes weird just for the sake of being weird, but consistently had me invested. Synecdoche New York may not be Kaufman's greatest work, but it is a thoroughly entertaining film that I would recommend to fans.
A theatre director starts to lose focus with reality while working on his riskiest project yet.
Best Performance: Phillip Seymour Hoffman