Day 26: Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Synecdoche, New York
Director: Charlie Kaufman
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Tommy Noonan

I'll admit it, I didn't get this movie. It was generally about life, love, death, theater, loss, theater, art, health, and dreams. I have no idea how these worked together.

I am a fan of Charlie Kaufman. I like Being John Malkovich and love Eternal Sunshine. Those each had different directors. Maybe that was what grounded them. This movie could have used some grounding. This seemed like a million different ideas thrown together, hoping some sort of message will come out. I'm sure it will work for some people. It just gave me a headache.

This movie is about a man made Caden who makes a massive, ongoing theater piece of his own life. Everyone in his world is a character and it is seemingly endless. The film naver made me sure what was real and what was fantasy. The line between these two were so blurred that it was almost too surreal.

This movie could have used some work with pacing, clarity, and structure. Charlie should maybe stick to writing.

Something was going on in this movie, but I really don't care to watch it again to figure out what it was.

Lesson learned: Theater is weird.