Review of Synecdoche, New York (2008) by Macdara C — 09 Aug 2010

The most cerebrally challenging film I've seen since 2004's Primer. Unforgivingly and unapologetically complex, the film left me confused and unsure of what exactly I was being shown on several occasions. I never found this frustrating however - if anything it made what I was watching all the more compelling. As the lines between the literal, the metaphorical and the psychological manifestations of protagonist Caden Cotard's mind become more and more blurred, the film doesn't necessarily make more sense; rather, the beautiful cinema unfolding on the screen becomes much more important than conventional explanation.

Philip Seymour Hoffman continues to impress me a lot, completely inhabiting the character of Cotard and delivering with a brilliant performance throughout. The supporting cast is also very strong, with Samantha Morton as Hazel being particularly memorable. Not without flaws, occasionally falls into overly self-indulgent territory and some threads of the story don't work as well as others, but this is considerably more hit than miss. I can imagine this going up at least another half-star on a second or third viewing. Make sure you see at least one other Charlie Kaufman film before this, though, just so you have at least some idea of the mindf*ck you can expect.