Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson, Dianne Wiest, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hope Davis, Tom Noonan

Directed by: Charlie Kaufman

Sony Pictures Classic

The Official Site of Synecdoche, New York

Discuss Synecdoche, New York on the boards!

I saw a lot of myself in Caden Cotard, the star… star is the wrong word… the “guy� in Synecdoche New York, an aging theater director with a wife he struggles to hold on to and a passion for creativity that’s probably not as passionate as it was before the mortgage or daughter came along. While I don’t necessarily share those problems, the fact that I saw a little of myself in him was no mistake. All of us are intentionally supposed to find familiarity in Cotard’s relentless search for creativity, for purpose, for life. I found the connection depressing at first because in many ways he’s a failure. As much so in that he spends his life searching for all those things with mixed results. I guess that’s the point though. We’re all looking for those things. With mixed results.

Inspired to do an original piece of theater Cotard turns to his own life drawing inspiration from the world around him. To say he has a keen eye for detail is an understatement. He recreates his own little corner of the world. Full size replicas of buildings are constructed, an ever-expanding cast of actors find themselves leading new lives as everyday people. They may not be the focus of the story but it doesn’t mean that their story is any less important so they deliver the mail, they clean the penthouse, they take out the trash... Cotard creates a living, breathing copy of life without a specific star. Just like the real world.

It’s not long before Cotard becomes a character within his own play, but… when your life is about writing a play, what does a play about your life become?

I’m hesitant to try and explain the plot beyond that. Mostly because I knew very little going in and was enamored by the way the film evolved beyond my expectations. I knew it was about a man going through the creative process and sort of getting lost within it, searching for perfection and watching his life disappear in his quest, but there’s so much more going on than that.

Synecdoche, New York shifts focus and takes you down paths you wouldn’t have expected, constantly playing with themes of perspective and identity. Not to mention reality. The woman buying a house that’s on fire, even though she mentions her hesitation on buying a house that’s clearly burning down, is odd. “Odd� is a kind word for what that is, but the sooner you stop trying to ground Synecdoche, New York in any kind of reality and accept that you’re watching an idea of a production within a production of a production, the less these oddities will stand out.

Though, if I’m being honest, trying to figure out what was going on was my favorite part of the film. This natural struggle to define what I was seeing or try to place the players within the play became a dizzying but exhilarating exercise in a film that refused to rest long enough for you to quite put the pieces all together. The story became, for me about identifying the story and identifying its star.

What Synecdoche, New York does though, is show us that everyone has a story and everyone’s story is important. It might not be important to you, but it’s important to them because they’re the star! It might not be a good story but not every life is a blockbuster. Sometimes the story is about driving a bus. It’s not the kind of story you might want to hear, but there are a lot of people out there telling it.

Rating: 9 out of 10 - I was completely taken by this film. As I left the theater on 42nd street I walked south on Broadway for 30 blocks thinking about the film, trying to place all the characters, trying to figure out my role in my own story. What kind of star am I? What kind of story am I telling? It was a good walk. I could have done without the rain though. I’ll have to talk with my set designer about a sunnier day.

It’s difficult to say if a movie like this is DVD worthy or not. I definitely want to revisit the film and rummage through any available extras or commentaries looking for further insight on what inspired the story, not that I have a thirst to “understand� it necessarily but it’s always interesting to see the pieces that make up amazing stories. That said, I just couldn’t imagine I’d watch the film often. I’m more likely to lend it out to people that I’d like to talk about it with because, having seen it, getting other people’s reactions is what appeals to me most.

So what’s the deal with the title? Nothing really. It’s the title, so it means something but most of us spend too much time trying to figure out how to pronounce it that we don’t bother trying to figure out what it means. My mother, who also adored the film, explained it to me and also pointed out that I could’ve learned as much had I bothered to crack open the dictionary that sits 13 inches away from the keyboard I’m typing on right now. Incidentally, that also would have told me how to pronounce it.

I almost prefer my path to understanding the word though. I had no idea what it meant going in and the movie offered me no help either. I knew how to pronounce it well enough to order the ticket, but that’s where my familiarity began and ended. Having it explained to me after the fact made me appreciate the movie days after I’d seen it. Had I know the definition while seeing the movie I assume I would have liked making that connection right then and there, but I’m glad for the extra evening of reflection I spent applying that definition to my memory of the film.

I won’t spoil the movie or the definition for you. Choose your own path and… try not to over think it. It’s just a title.

Synecdoche’s official site is pretty well made but has little to offer. Aside from a slick drop down menu that will let you listen to selected tracks of the film’s haunting score (with convenient links to iTunes) the site’s most valuable asset is arguably that its intro page tells you how to properly pronounce the title. That’s something the star of today’s comic probably could have used a little help with.

With no day job it’s nice to have the time to see and review movies like this. I would always make time to sneak out and see the films but would often spend so much time hemming and hawing over trying to figure out how to do a comic to make the film accessible, that too much time would go by and I’d just drop it. I still have regrets I never did something for Brick which was one of the best movies of that year. It’s nice to have time for this and to hopefully let you guys have an idea of what you should make time for.

Now I have to go and figure out a comic for Twilight, not at all an independent movie, but one that apparently pretty good. I’m right in the middle of book and I’m having some trouble with it. It’s mushy. Like gross mushy, but I’m determined to be on the ground floor when the Twilight bomb hits on Friday. I want to be part of the experience even if I’m 15 years to old and the wrong gender. Wish me luck.