Synecdoche, New York | Rotten Tomatoes (original) (raw)
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Critics Consensus
Charlie Kaufman's ambitious directorial debut occasionally strains to connect, but ultimately provides fascinating insight into a writer's mind.
Joshua Rothkopf Time Out Rated: 4/5 Nov 17, 2011 Full Review Tim Robey Daily Telegraph (UK) Kaufman, who once dazzled us with his japester's invention, uses those same tools to do something else here. He leaves us reeling. Rated: 5/5 May 17, 2009 Full Review Cosmo Landesman Times (UK) This is a classic Kaufmanesque work: bold, bizarre and utterly baffling. Rated: 3/5 May 17, 2009 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review Synecdoche, New York aches with sentiments on a life (and indeed all life) not fully lived and overly focused on analysis and reflection, offering rich commentary on remorse and alienation. Rated: 4/4 Sep 5, 2023 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy This takes the notion of life as merely one sprawling play and literalizes it. Rated: 3/4 Feb 15, 2023 Full Review Taylor Baker Drink in the Movies Episode 43: The New World / Synecdoche, New York / L'Avventura Rated: 96/100 Oct 4, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews
Mason M A sometimes haunting and horrifying study of mortality, Synecdoche, New York shows all of Charlie Kaufman's strengths in a beautifully ambitious way. Though Phillip Seymour Hoffman has a great performance in this, the real star of the film is Kaufman's enthralling writing and entirely unique surrealist ideas and his perfectly cold direction. This is a haunting epic that won't be leaving my head anytime soon, and a must-watch for any Kaufman fans. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/28/25 Full Review Kevin P A very unique and hypnotic deconstruction of the artistic projection that so many storytellers attempt to find meaning and specialty from their lives into their fictional work, highlighted by the character’s life becoming directionless and therefore his play becomes directionless as the passage of time blurs the line, his health declines, and his passions & personal connections slowly fade away. It’s a very tedious and incoherent movie, but that’s the point to get across how disappointing life can feel sometimes when our lifelong hurdles still challenge us years later. It’s a challenging film to watch, but I was never lost on the main themes of the story or the emotions of the characters. You get a real feel for the characters’ depression and existential anxieties. How everything you once love and what made you feel special can often slowly erode away from the sands of time. It’s far from my favorite Charlie Kaufman film, but it’s easily his most ambitious, devastating, and self-reflective piece of work (even more than Adaptation!). I don’t exactly have a huge desire to rewatch it out of entertainment value, but certainly for another dissection at this man’s shattered psyche of human and artistic purpose when we’re given such a short timespan here on Earth. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/27/25 Full Review Jacob B As close to a perfect film as a film can get. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/06/25 Full Review Isa B Though this film is incredibly well acted, I am personally not a big fan of it. I love Charlie Kaufman's writing. Adaptation is one of my all-time favorite films. As his career progressed, his films seemed to get more and more abstract. This one in particular had such a melancholy nature, it just did not appeal to me. I just couldn't connect with it. I love films that are abstract, so long as I have some kind of connection to the material or if I can somehow make sense of it. It seems to me that Charlie Kaufman has taken his abstractions too far, almost for the sake of it. Like, the intention is more so to be weird and different than to tell a real story. That's just my opinion. I don't find this film to be some brilliant allegory. I do find meaning to the film, I just find it to be unnecessarily abstract for effect. Again, I am just not a fan nor do I consider this picture to be great. Personally, I hate this film. There is just nothing for me to like about it. I do, on the other hand, appreciate the film. I would still recommend it to others. 72/100 Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/06/24 Full Review erdene c The struggle for life of a director abandoned by his wife and children is interesting Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/23/24 Full Review Uynga U excellent peace of art Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/23/24 Full Review Read all reviews
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Synopsis Life is looking pretty bleak for theater director Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman). His wife and daughter have left him, his therapist is more interested in plugging her new book than helping him with his problems, and a strange disease is causing his body to shut down. Caden leaves his home in Schenectady, N.Y., and heads to New York City, where he gathers a cast of actors and tells them to live their lives within the constructs of a mock-up of the city.
Director
Charlie Kaufman
Producer
Anthony Bregman, Spike Jonze, Charlie Kaufman, Sidney Kimmel
Screenwriter
Charlie Kaufman
Distributor
Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co
Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Projective Testing Service, Likely Story
Rating
R (Some Sexual Content/Nudity|Language)
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 24, 2008, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 24, 2009
Box Office (Gross USA)
$3.1M
Runtime
2h 4m
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