The movie called “Synecdoche, New York” is located primarily in Schenectady, N.Y. But that tongue twister of a setup is nothing compared to its brain-twisting narrative.
“Synecdoche,” a word defined as “a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole” (according to the New Oxford American Dictionary), includes one of the most distinguished acting ensembles of any movie this year. But that doesn’t make its title or story any more accessible to an audience.
It comes out of the fevered cerebellum of Oscar winner Charlie Kaufman, the man behind the brilliant mindbenders “Being John Malkovich,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” and “Adaptation,” The far-out screenwriter makes his directorial debut here and goes a bridge too far with today’s indulgent, often incomprehensible, and brazenly unusual fantasy memoir.
Maybe Kaufman needs a separate, strong director to tame and decode his material. This script, like his others, tends to warp the progression of time and the bounds of, even, movie reality.
The flights of fancy in “Synecdoche” provide often memorably images, flashes of visual nightmares or tangible human emotion. But it is nearly impossible to grasp what is happening or what any of it is supposed to mean after the first, intelligible half-hour gives way to a sluggish trek through one strange dude’s life and work.
Minor stage director Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is an unpleasant hypochondriac who loves his little daughter but has a troubled relationship with her mother (Catherine Keener). For reasons that are never made clear, this guy is like catnip to interesting women.
After his wife leaves and takes his daughter away with her, the grief-stricken Caden eventually throws himself into the theatrical project of a lifetime. He spends the next several decades trying to capture his own reality in full scale as if it were a drama.
On a set that grows to the size of a small city, the piece replicates locations and interactions as a cross between performance art, mass hallucination, and dystopian vision of the future. Meanwhile, schlubby, self-loathing Caden hooks up with the various adoring females in his path including his assistant Hazel (Samantha Morton), his lead actress Claire Keen (Michelle Williams) and the woman who plays Hazel on-set (Emily Watson).
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Dianne Wiest and Hope Davis round out the cast in surreal roles that almost defy description. Just like “Synecdoche, New York.”
Quick info
“Synecdoche, New York”
2 out of 5 Stars
Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Michelle Williams Samantha Morton,
Director: Charlie Kaufman
Rated Rated R for language and some sexual content/nudity
Running Time: 123 minutes
