Synecdoche, New York
2008
***
Director: Charlie Kaufman
Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Samantha Morton, Hope Davis, Tom Noonan, Emily Watson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Dianne Wiest, Michelle Williams
Charlie Kaufman became famous for his inventive and outlandish screenplays for films like Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and his directorial debut is another mindbender. The wonderful Philip Seymour Hoffmann plays a hypochondriac theater director who wins the MacArthur Genius Award and decides to use the grant to stage something true and personal. The endless and ever-expanding production is about his own disappointing life and the inevitability of death. Kaufman's concept is insanely ambitious and full of brilliant notions about art imitating life and life imitating art. It includes sad, poignant, and hilarious moments. However, the film sags a bit in the second half, so perhaps Kaufman bites more than he can chew.
