Charlie Kaufman: Why Not to Miss 'Synecdoche, New York,' The Best Film of 2008

Why Not to Miss Synecdoche, New York The Best Film of 2008 (Defamer)

"Charlie Kaufman's directing debut Synecdoche, New York is the most inaccessible, challenging, infuriating, stupefying, heartbreaking film of 2008. It's also the best American movie we've seen this year, and as noted here this morning, it's required viewing this weekend for anyone who wants to be on our good side. Or history's good side, for that matter — and here are five reasons why."

It needs to be mentioned that the major critics are split right down the middle on this one. The top critics at Rotten Tomatoes offer eight thumbs up, eight down, and Rex Reed anoints it the worst film of all time! "No matter how bad you think the worst movie ever made ever was, you have not seen Synecdoche, New York. It sinks to the ultimate bottom of the landfill, and the smell threatens to linger from here to infinity."

Rex can be a catty douchebag, but he sometimes injects a note of common sense into the typical critical romance with dense, heady fare. James Berardinelli steps back from his emotional response to the film in order to gain a little perspective: "With Charlie Kaufman, the writer of such movies as Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, one expects something weird and wonderful. So it will come as no surprise that "weird" is an apt descriptor for Synecdoche, New York, Kaufman's directorial debut. But "wonderful?" Not really. This is the kind of maddening, overstuffed, overambitious, self-indulgent motion picture that will divide critics and viewers (those few who see it). However, while there are times when this film could be considered strangely compelling, it's mostly an overlong, pretentious bore. Kaufman is clearly striving for greatness - "art" at the expense of all else, including logic - but he falls short by a considerable margin. Just because a movie is ambitious and challenging doesn't mean it can't also be tedious and at times unbearable."