Review of Synecdoche, New York (2008) by Kimberly E — 07 Feb 2010

This is exactly the movie that Charlie Kaufman's character in Adaptation wanted to write.

Kaufman: "What if a writer is attempting to create a story where nothing much happens? Where people don't change, they don't have any epiphanies. They struggle and are frustrated, and nothing is resolved - more reflection of the real world.".

McKee's response to him was that if he has no crisis or conflict he will bore his audience to tears and that further more lots of things happen in the real world and that if he can't figure that out then he doesn't know crap about the real world.

He wanted to make a movie without anyone learning any life lessons or coming together in the end. He didn't want to make it a Hollywood thing. He wanted it to be about disappointment and McKee's response was, "that's not a movie, you have to go back and add the drama".

There's a scene in the beginning of Synecdoche when Kaden's wife asks him about how his premiere went and yet doesn't seem terribly interested. His wife has a friend over and when Kaden asks her what she thought says to him that all that matters is his artistic satisfaction, that her opinion doesn't matter.

This seems to be said on purpose as I don't think this movie was done for anyone but Kaufman.

It's a cynical anti-life glass half-empty movie that isn't dark or funny but rather very mean spirited.

Watching the Synecdoche I thought to myself, this must be what hell is like...