Synecdoche, New York (C or 2/4 stars)
A theater director struggles with his life's work, women, & his own mortality in 'Synecdoche, New York', directed by Charlie Kauffman (writer of the odd, but wonderful Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, & Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). After given a lucrative grant to form his own original play, this theater director creates a life-size replica of Manhattan inside a massive warehouse as the setting. But unfortunately for him, it turns out that his personal problems are bigger than his replica. This is one crazy movie. It aims to be an ambitious, ultra-serious contemplation of love, art, life, & death. There are a handful of brilliant scenes scattered throughout. And it's bizarrely appealing. Unfortunately, it goes on & on, getting more & more confusing & depressing as it goes.
Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a NY-based playwright/director from Schenectady. Life hasn't been too good for him lately, though. Some odd physical ailments are hounding him: red urine, facial postules, & blood in his stool. His marijuana-smoking wife, Adele (Catherine Keener), a painter, seems to be tiring of him; even going on a trip to Germany with their daughter, Olive, and NOT wanting him to come. In Germany, Adele strikes success (as a painter), while Olive grows up to have a lesbian relationship with an older woman named Maria (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Meanwhile, lonely Caden is becoming involved with 2 co-workers: Claire (Michelle Williams), leading lady of his current play, & Hazel (Samantha Morton), his box-office receptionist. With Adele gone, Caden feels free to be with these women, but his growing depression/physical ailments prove to be a stumbling block both for his job creativity & his prowess in the bedroom. Can he focus on mastering his monstrous, life-affirming new play? Can he stop weeping before & during sex? Will his life ever come together?
The 2nd hour of the film focuses more on the building/replica of NYC in the warehouse, the actual play itself, and the casting of the various characters. Caden is casting himself. That role goes to Sammy (Tom Noonan). The fake Hazel is played by Emily Watson; and so on & so on. Before long, the lines btwn. reality & fantasy start to blur. Years pass. The play is unfinished. And we have to decide who the real Caden is; who's the real Claire; who's having an affair with who; which conversations belong IN the play; and which conversations are being spoken for real, etc.. By the end, a woman named Millicent (Dianne Wiest) gets hired to play both a character (in the play) named Ellen AND Caden himself (this is after he has a complete mental breakdown, and is incapacitated to continue on).
Caden/PS Hoffman is the best aspect of the movie. He's real; humorous, sad, talented, downtrodden. Hoffman's portrayal as the cerebral writer, obsessed with his creating something astounding on the stage, lamenting his physical ailments, & trembling at the thought of his sex issues, makes Caden a fascinating character to study. The rest of the ensemble cast is stellar, as well. Those who leave the biggest impression are Samantha Morton's ethereal Hazel & Dianne Wiest's astute portrayal of Ellen/Caden. Her comic/tragic timing in the delivery of her lines shows why she's a 2-time Oscar winner. I love her. Some aspects of the film are truly original, creative, & lasting. But what starts as a funny, weird tragic-comedy in the 1st hour slowly, slowly gives way to one of those pretentious play-within-a-play-within-a-play types of films where you're left trying to make sense of it all.
Repeat viewings would help, but if you're not really into it, that method would clearly not work. That's not to say there aren't some poignant and/or powerful scenes late in the game, I'm just saying that it all becomes a bit big for its britches, so to speak. It doesn't go off the rails, really. But you start to get fed up with it; and then you realize there is still a half an hour to go; and it only descends deeper into its own madness. That said, there definitely is enough in the film to compel; I was riveted to the screen for quite a while. Some people will find something very meaningful from this movie; others will mock the people who DO find that meaning. For me, I acknowledge the ambition of the film, and desperately wanted to like what I was watching; which says a lot more than some other horrible films that you just want to be OVER. 'Synecdoche, New York' is a heartbreaking, wondrous, yet frustrating, melancholic mess … an interesting failure, for sure.
Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a NY-based playwright/director from Schenectady. Life hasn't been too good for him lately, though. Some odd physical ailments are hounding him: red urine, facial postules, & blood in his stool. His marijuana-smoking wife, Adele (Catherine Keener), a painter, seems to be tiring of him; even going on a trip to Germany with their daughter, Olive, and NOT wanting him to come. In Germany, Adele strikes success (as a painter), while Olive grows up to have a lesbian relationship with an older woman named Maria (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Meanwhile, lonely Caden is becoming involved with 2 co-workers: Claire (Michelle Williams), leading lady of his current play, & Hazel (Samantha Morton), his box-office receptionist. With Adele gone, Caden feels free to be with these women, but his growing depression/physical ailments prove to be a stumbling block both for his job creativity & his prowess in the bedroom. Can he focus on mastering his monstrous, life-affirming new play? Can he stop weeping before & during sex? Will his life ever come together?
The 2nd hour of the film focuses more on the building/replica of NYC in the warehouse, the actual play itself, and the casting of the various characters. Caden is casting himself. That role goes to Sammy (Tom Noonan). The fake Hazel is played by Emily Watson; and so on & so on. Before long, the lines btwn. reality & fantasy start to blur. Years pass. The play is unfinished. And we have to decide who the real Caden is; who's the real Claire; who's having an affair with who; which conversations belong IN the play; and which conversations are being spoken for real, etc.. By the end, a woman named Millicent (Dianne Wiest) gets hired to play both a character (in the play) named Ellen AND Caden himself (this is after he has a complete mental breakdown, and is incapacitated to continue on).
Caden/PS Hoffman is the best aspect of the movie. He's real; humorous, sad, talented, downtrodden. Hoffman's portrayal as the cerebral writer, obsessed with his creating something astounding on the stage, lamenting his physical ailments, & trembling at the thought of his sex issues, makes Caden a fascinating character to study. The rest of the ensemble cast is stellar, as well. Those who leave the biggest impression are Samantha Morton's ethereal Hazel & Dianne Wiest's astute portrayal of Ellen/Caden. Her comic/tragic timing in the delivery of her lines shows why she's a 2-time Oscar winner. I love her. Some aspects of the film are truly original, creative, & lasting. But what starts as a funny, weird tragic-comedy in the 1st hour slowly, slowly gives way to one of those pretentious play-within-a-play-within-a-play types of films where you're left trying to make sense of it all.
Repeat viewings would help, but if you're not really into it, that method would clearly not work. That's not to say there aren't some poignant and/or powerful scenes late in the game, I'm just saying that it all becomes a bit big for its britches, so to speak. It doesn't go off the rails, really. But you start to get fed up with it; and then you realize there is still a half an hour to go; and it only descends deeper into its own madness. That said, there definitely is enough in the film to compel; I was riveted to the screen for quite a while. Some people will find something very meaningful from this movie; others will mock the people who DO find that meaning. For me, I acknowledge the ambition of the film, and desperately wanted to like what I was watching; which says a lot more than some other horrible films that you just want to be OVER. 'Synecdoche, New York' is a heartbreaking, wondrous, yet frustrating, melancholic mess … an interesting failure, for sure.