A Rambling Review of Synecdoche, New York

Do you ever go see a movie people recommend to you that you just.... Ya know? It's not that you didn't like it.... well it's kinda that you didn't like it. You also kinda liked parts of it but overall it left you feeling odd, disconnected and unsure of what you just paid for? This movie was kind of like the "free drink" in Vegas for gamblers.... those drinks always cost me like 40 bucks! Those "free drinks" are rarely ever worth it.

Without further ado..... here is my review of Synecdoche, New York.



I am not sure what to make of what I just saw. There are a lot of factors we need to consider here. I had an extremely long (but good) day, after a hard night of nearly restless sleep. Then why did I go? Well I joined a Meetup group (meetup.com) based around seeing films. I had not been to an event yet mainly due to schedule conflicts or lack of interest; for example they had a showing of some movie staring Renee Zellwegger and I would almost rather have 12 root canals on the same day then see her in another freaking movie. (I loathe her!) Anyway this one was a Meetup I could make and carried the bonus of several movie selections (albeit all possible selections were not really my speed). When I got home from teaching today, I melted in to my recliner and almost never made it back up. By the time I got to the theater the movie was about to start. I watched the movie and actually ordered food and a couple pints (Living Room Theaters). I am not sure who the Meetup people were nor was I sure if we met up after the movie or not. I felt a little insecure asking people that I thought might be part of the group. Either way I had decided I was seeing a movie this day and had, as a result, not went to any other movie prior to this one. So I watched a movie mainly because I really wanted to see a movie.

I guess I should review the movie now.... it's just that the movie left me not feeling like doing anything. How weird is it to laugh while slowly falling into a depressive state. This movie seems to carry the moniker of "Tragicomedy" in the other reviews I have read. For some odd reason I kept expecting the movie to start making sense or have a good ending but it just kept on trucking along being a hugely surreal downer. The surrealness is really where the humor comes in, most of the humor stemmed from the odd flow. I think people enjoyed the oddness of the movie but why make such a downer? Really?

I am done attempting to review this movie..... I just don't get it. It was not my favorite. I could definitely have lived without ever watching it. As far as the actors.... they seemed good and I bought the surrealness of their characters. The story was often confusing (due to the main character's loose hold on time) and it all started to seem long about 30 minutes before it ended. I think really it was the last 45 minutes that killed the movie for me. Until then I was kind of thinking the movie might still do something. It never does by the way.... My recommendation? See it if you like odd and off the wall flicks. Especially if you are not as bothered by downers. Don't see the movie if you want to laugh and have a good time....