Synecdoche, New York

[Chris L]

This movie is like a rambling love letter to dour people.  The Rex Reeds of the world will have much the same pissy reaction he did -- I note in his sputtering rant that the moment he walked out was the one I laughed hardest at (of course he mangles the joke). 

And the movie is laugh-out-loud funny, not to mention fascinating, uneven, overlong, repetitive, fever-dreamy and, yes, uncompromisingly bleak.  Counting the protagonist’s notes to his actors, Kaufman seemingly evokes every depressing experience and misfortune life has to offer, aside maybe from being eaten alive by pigs or working as Bill Maher’s make-up artist.   As I was leaving the theater there were a group of people outside trying to free a dog whose paw was trapped in a park bench, which was like the perfect capper to the film. 

Visually, it looks probably much the same as if Jonze had directed it (as he was originally supposed to), so I guess that settles whether he or Gondry have been more representative of Kaufman’s scripts.   The cast is uniformly on board.  I hope Kaufman is able to direct his own scripts on this scale again, but many of the people who didn’t like his style before will likely have full-on personal enmity against him after this. 

[Martin]

Good to hear. I really really want to see it.

[crumbum]

I saw it last night and was disappointed. What struck me most was that, while the performances were warm and engaging, the cinematography and staging generally pro, and the soundtrack (and sound design) awesome, the script was a mess. There were a few really beautiful and heartbreaking short scenes made even more effective by the dream-logic structure, but I don't know if there is any way you can dramatize solipsism in what amounts to a two-hour dream sequence without leaving the audience behind. To be true to his concept Kaufman is forced to dwell on Cotard's eternally renewing self-pity and loneliness until we're sick of looking at him. And Kaufman probably realizes this -- Cotard's wife says, early on, 'Everyone is disappointing once you get to know them.'

I'm really glad he tried though; it's obviously a very personal and deeply felt project, and he loves his characters. Rex Reed is a moron and I feel pretty confident in saying that if he loved the Changeling then it's gotta be garbage.

[Ramsobot]

I saw this last week and feel as though I still haven't figured it out, but now I'm at a stage where I'm realizing that maybe I wasn't supposed to. There are characters in this film (I won't say who to avoid spoilers) that I don't understand the purpose of, and I think there were about fifteen minutes that could've been trimmed, but on the whole I think I liked it.

The acting is pretty good and Jon Brion is great at what he does. I would recommend it, but as I said at the beginning, I really can't give any more specific information.

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

I'm on the fence about Kaufman in general - sometimes I think of him as fast-food post-structuralism, and kinda pretentious about it - but that stupid Rex Reed review really makes me want to defend him.  Yes, I remember Borat, you munch.

[jbissell]

I saw it last night and I'm still trying to process my thoughts about it.  There was a lot of things that were great but in the end I was left with a hollow feeling that I can't yet explain.  It's definitely a film I need to see again.

[Joe Rogaine]

At least it looks like it might be cool.

[Fido]

Rex Reed is a moron and I feel pretty confident in saying that if he loved the Changeling then it's gotta be garbage.

In that review, he disses Being John Malkovich (abominable), Adaptation (asinine), Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (artery-clogging) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (actually I agree with him, it kind of was jabberwocky).

I don't remember if I loved any of these movies -- I think the first two did impress me -- but if I were to pick on any writer/director, it wouldn't be the individual responsible for these four. Munch, indeed. It's almost enough to make me want to see any film Rex Reed so thoroughly trashes.

[Sarah]

Hasn't Rex Reed always been a moron?

[Raad_Man]

this movie is dumb.  i don't even know what its about.

[bakersfieldchimp]

Saw this last weekend with my girlfriend, and we both had the same sort of reaction, in that we were glad we saw it, but left the theater feeling sort of dazed and overwhelmed. It's definitely Charlie Kaufman's oddest movie (yet), and it felt like there was too much going on to absorb in one viewing, but I liked it... I'm pretty sure I did, anyhow. It's odd, because even though I feel like I liked it, I can't really recommend it-- I feel like I'd have to tell someone to read about it before they decided whether they wanted to go see it. A couple of people in our showing left halfway through the movie, which didn't surprised me, even though I was pretty entranced by that point.

[Satchmo Mask]

I loved it.

[Matt]

this movie is dumb.  i don't even know what its about.

Uh, that all human life is transient and, when compared to the ages of the cosmos, the human lifespan constitutes less than a fraction of a fraction of a second in the greater scheme, thus resulting in our feeling that time is compressing itself, making it seem as though everything is happening at once, meaning that past, present and future are constantly being reconciled in the eternal NOW?

I mean, just think of the flaming house, duh.

PS - I liked this movie a lot. Tom missed out by leaving early. 

[Raad_Man]

this movie is dumb.  i don't even know what its about.

Uh, that all human life is transient and, when compared to the ages of the cosmos, the human lifespan constitutes less than a fraction of a fraction of a second in the greater scheme, thus resulting in our feeling that time is compressing itself, making it seem as though everything is happening at once, meaning that past, present and future are constantly being reconciled in the eternal NOW?

I mean, just think of the flaming house, duh.

PS - I liked this movie a lot. Tom missed out by leaving early. 

um, no.  it's about a guy who's trying to write a play but can't.  it's about a boring guy trying to do something boring for a long time.  and what was up with him fucking old and/or fat chicks?  visionary.

the funny parts didn't make the audience laugh much.  and while there were parts where characters cried and were sad, it never made me cry or feel sad.  or anyone else in the theater.  just a bunch of ideas.  great.  if i wanted to just get a bunch of ideas i'd read a dissertation.  i want a movie man.  rock me.  get in my heart and take me on a trip man.

[emma]

I loved it and also I hated it but I am definitely not going back to figure out which of those things i felt more.

I went with a friend who loved loved loved it with no complaints or qualms, but he is also a depressed philosopher-writer who semisecretly wants to be Charlie Kaufman, so, you know.