Synecdoche New York
Having noticed this being recommended in the genre of films which attempt to assess societal mechanisms and how people live out their lives, I decided to watch this. With Philip Seymour Hoffman in the lead role, you know you'll be getting an intense performance regardless of what the role actually entails.
Sadly, his performance here was more akin to that of 25th Hour, wherein he plays a socially awkward creep. Here he plays a theatre director whose wish is to recreate the feel of the societal elements observed in New York City. He believes that the environment serves as a commentary of the world's societies put together, and that he is able to replicate the everyday lives of the everyday man in his own manufactured reconstruction of the world.
For a film which lasts just over two hours, I need to be grabbed by it within the first ten minutes. Unfortunately I was never 'grabbed' at any point, bar one particular suicide scene which was reminiscent of many 'realism' scenes featured within cinema. The character realises that he has made little impact on the world, and that every effort he has made to be with the one he loves has been fruitless. Barring this moment, the film is essentially bland, with scenes of no worth being played out and wasting too much time. Of course films can't be made up of purely masterpiece moments, but Synecdoche seemed to lack any.
If I have missed any moments of genius in this film, or have missed supposed messages, I am all ears. However, it feels like it was genuinely two hours of my life wasted.
5/10
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