Movie Notes: Synedoche, New York
= 3 stars
Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Michelle Williams, Samantha Morton
Directed by Charlie Kaufman
Synopsis
Playwright Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman), separated from his wife and daughter and suffering from a mysterious disease, receives a grant which allows him to construct one great play based on his depressing life.
The Good
- Kaufman’s bizarre imagination is on full display here, with strange and wonderful ideas and mind-bending situations (one great line: “Y’know? Knowing that you don’t know is the first and most essential step to knowing. Y’know?”)
- Many scenes seem improvised, or take a direction based on a fleeting thought that is expanded upon, such as books that change their text as they’re being read, a house on perpetual fire, and a play where all the characters literally represent real-life people, but because the play’s inception takes years, they literally morph into each other and share experiences. That it’s a play within a movie adds another level of amusing oddity.
- For a feature film debut, Kaufman’s tone is remarkably somber and assured — everything transpiring seems laden with intent. The mood is fittingly, halfway between Jonze’s realistic surrealism and Michel Gondry’s playfulness. I hope Kaufman gets another chance to direct.
- Phillip Seymour Hoffman. He ages some forty years in this film and is in nearly every scene. Most notable is his sudden seizure while on the phone, his pathetic relationships with women, and the chilling final moments receiving direction from his replacement.
- An overarching theme of mortality and the feeling of life relentlessly slipping by, taking opportunities with them.
The Bad
- The plot is extremely convoluted, more so than Adaptation or Being John Malkovich. Scenes may be taking place in Caden’s imagination at any point in time, and characters could be themselves or the actors playing them. The film soon becomes a long “to do” list of things to go back and try to figure out, but unfortunately I felt so little connection to the characters here, that to do so didn’t seem worth the effort. In that sense it reminds me of David Lynch’s recent puzzle-y movies — convoluted for convolution’s sake, and at worst, director’s incompetence.
- While Hoffman is tops, everyone else gets remarkably short shrift which is likely because Kaufman is a writer, not a director. Catherine Keener is in the film’s first scenes and never appears again, and other talents like Hope Davis or Diane Weist fade in and out like ghosts.
Conclusion
Moments of brilliance and inspired ideas, but an equal amount of confusion and knots that don’t seem worth the time to unravel. Synedoche is deep, layered, and filled with intent that is constantly, frustratingly just out of reach. I feel part of the director’s job is to communicate, and Kaufman slipped a bit here.
Ultimately, Synedoche is worth a rental so long as you know what you’re getting into. If you disliked any of Kaufman’s filmed screenplays (Human Nature, Adaptation, Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind) — don’t make the trip to Synedoche.
IMDB: Synedoche, New York
Wikipedia: Synedoche, New York
Rotten Tomatoes: Synedoche, New York