Synecdoche, New York

Name: Synecdoche, New York
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: October 24, 2008
Duration: 124 min
Rating: 67
Cast: Michelle Williams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton

2008

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Generally favorable reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 303 Ratings

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8.0	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 303 Ratings

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Synecdoche, New York

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Movie Details & Credits

Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: October 24, 2008 | R

Starring: Michelle Williams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton

Summary: Theater director Caden Cotard is mounting a new play. His life catering to suburban blue-hairs at the local regional theater in Schenectady, New York is looking bleak. His wife Adele has left him to pursue her painting in Berlin, taking their young daughter Olive with her. His therapist, Madeleine Gravis, is better at plugging herTheater director Caden Cotard is mounting a new play. His life catering to suburban blue-hairs at the local regional theater in Schenectady, New York is looking bleak. His wife Adele has left him to pursue her painting in Berlin, taking their young daughter Olive with her. His therapist, Madeleine Gravis, is better at plugging her best-seller than she is at counseling him. A new relationship with the alluringly candid Hazel has prematurely run aground. And a mysterious condition is systematically shutting down each of his autonomic functions, one by one. Worried about the transience of his life, he leaves his home behind. He gathers an ensemble cast into a warehouse in New York City, hoping to create a work of brutal honesty. He directs them in a celebration of the mundane, instructing each to live out their constructed lives in a growing mockup of the city outside. (Sony Classics)… Expand

Director: Charlie Kaufman

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy

Rating: R

Runtime: 124 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Marjorie Baumgarten

Synecdoche is the kind of movie that rewards repeated viewings. But sometimes, as Van Morrison sings, it's just best to "sail into the mystic." Read full review

100

Travis Nichols

Although obviously a stretched and lightly drawn caricature -- the cerebral writer is obsessed with his work, has metaphorical skin problems, can't have sex without weeping, etc. -- Cotard is real. Or as real a representation of an artist as we're likely to get in this biopic age. Read full review

Premiere Emily Rems

At turns as neurotic and nebbishy as any Woody Allen flick, as creepy and disorienting as your favorite "Twilight Zone" episode, and as steeped in magical realism as the most moving Márquez novel, Synecdoche may not be the feel-good date movie of the year. But for viewers up for the challenge, it may be the film most likely to stick with you. Read full review

Carina Chocano

Sprawling, awe-inspiring, heartbreaking, frustrating, hard-to-follow and achingly, achingly sad movie. Read full review

Joe Neumaier

Hoffman, Morton and Jon Brion's aching score somehow capture the all-too-human need to get things right. If you're in a certain frame of mind, those moments make up for all the stagecraft. Read full review

James Berardinelli

Just because a movie is ambitious and challenging doesn't mean it can't also be tedious and at times unbearable. Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

I gave up making heads or tails of Synecdoche, New York, but I did get one message: The compulsion to stand outside of one's life and observe it to THIS degree isn't the mechanism of art -- it's the structure of psychosis. Read full review

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User Reviews

StevenF

Mar 24, 2013

Charlie Kaufman makes his directorial debut in what can only be described as the most bizarrely brilliant but depressingly modernistic film to grace your eyes in many MANY years.
Synecdoche, New York tells the story of depressed and down on his luck Caden (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a theatreCharlie Kaufman makes his directorial debut in what can only be described as the most bizarrely brilliant but depressingly modernistic film to grace your eyes in many MANY years.
Synecdoche, New York tells the story of depressed and down on his luck Caden (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a theatre director who sees no motive or starting point in his life, his wife, Adele (Catherine Keener) is an artist and receives the opportunity to go to Berlin to pursue her artistic ambition, this would also involve leaving Caden and taking their daughter Olive with her.
Caden receives a surprise McArthur grant to pursue his interest in what he sees fit. He decides to put on a massive play which he wants to throw his honesty and life into, but at the same time he is also dealing with his ailing body and spontaneous bouts of illness.
His project can only be described as epic, using a huge warehouse to recreate New York itself, taking in actors to portray everyday people, including himself, which in turn creates a film that is never truly sure as to what is the true world or the dream that Caden has created.
The film itself is simply art, a non-linear story with fast forward in time points that will leave you confused, yet in awe as to the spectacle and nerve of director and writer Kaufman. It is true that you will never know exactly what is going on, with a very unorthodox story that will leave people hating this film, but those ones will ultimately miss the message of this film.
Dreams may indeed already be our reality, that life is so short that no matter what situation you are in, go for gold and don't look back, as you watch this wonderful film you will be left dumfounded as to what you are witnessing, but also appreciative of the art at play here.
As mentioned, the film jumps time considerably, at some points you might not even notice, actually scratch that, you simply won't notice, as Caden himself doesn't even notice.
Hoffman puts in an unforgettable and commanding performance as Caden, someone who does grab his dream when the opportunity arose, yet was always struggling with his past life, a fitting message that will stand the test of time.
Each time you watch this something different will catch your eye, something on the wall, a character or whatever, it puts you in the spot of analysing your own life and deciding what to do with it, but also to confront or make peace with your demons head on.
Not only one of the best films of the decade, but one of the greatest and most relevant pieces or art to ever grace your eyes.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

TrevorS.

Apr 10, 2009

You either get it or you don't. as we see from the scoring. i watched it 3 times in the theatre and once so far on DVD and am still just understanding it. but the first time i thought this seems important to me to understand. if you don't like it i can understand why.

1 of 1 users found this helpful

jean-do

Nov 17, 2010

Beautifully complex. You'll catch something new each time you watch it. Charlie Kaufman cements himself as the best screenwriter out there. Best movie of the decade and one of the best of all times.

14 of 15 users found this helpful141

JayK

Nov 16, 2008

It's too bad more people won't appreciate this exceptional movie. Completely unique, very ambitious, and totally successful, in my opinion. Clever script, great acting, moving execution. Charlie Kaufman shows again that he's a genius.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

MichaelS.

Oct 30, 2008

Holy Meta Batman!! This movie made me feel so crazy when it was finally all said and done that I give most of these points for trying to do something really big and existential. Kudos to Charlie for writing this mad-hatter piece of work. Hopefully his director skills will catch up with his Holy Meta Batman!! This movie made me feel so crazy when it was finally all said and done that I give most of these points for trying to do something really big and existential. Kudos to Charlie for writing this mad-hatter piece of work. Hopefully his director skills will catch up with his writing brilliance at some point.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

SeanF.

Dec 14, 2008

Not a great Charlie Kaufman movie. Some brilliant moments/bright spots, ultimately, though, a disappointing picture. Maybe worth seeing just for the inventiveness and creativity of it all, but I really started to lose the point of this whole thing, a little more than half way through it. Not a great Charlie Kaufman movie. Some brilliant moments/bright spots, ultimately, though, a disappointing picture. Maybe worth seeing just for the inventiveness and creativity of it all, but I really started to lose the point of this whole thing, a little more than half way through it. Good acting (and actors), but overall probably an average to mediocre film.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

TerenceS.

Nov 21, 2008

This movie is one of the worst shows that I have ever seen. Even in most horrible movies there's an element of camp. This has none. Don't bother with trying to find a point to it, I'll save you a trip, it has no point. Metacritic, you really let me down on this one. The movie This movie is one of the worst shows that I have ever seen. Even in most horrible movies there's an element of camp. This has none. Don't bother with trying to find a point to it, I'll save you a trip, it has no point. Metacritic, you really let me down on this one. The movie itself is just a thrown together bundle of crap, that is probably just Kaufman expressing all of his own fears. I can only think of one reason Kaufman decided to direct it himself. Every self respecting director probably looked at the script and said, "There is no way I can make a movie out of this." Kaufman tries to combine elements of Jungian concepts, borrows imagry from an over used Shakespearian expression, and the movie suffers from Kaufman's own now over inflated ego.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful

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46	#46 Most Discussed Movie of 2008
61	#61 Most Shared Movie of 2008