‎Synecdoche, New York (2008) directed by Charlie Kaufman • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

Synecdoche, New York

2008 Directed by Charlie Kaufman

A theater director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as part of his new play.

Philip Seymour Hoffman Samantha Morton Jennifer Jason Leigh Michelle Williams Catherine Keener Emily Watson Tom Noonan Sadie Goldstein Hope Davis Dianne Wiest Kristen Bush Alice Drummond Amy Wright Deirdre O'Connell Elizabeth Marvel Charles Techman Tom Greer Josh Pais Lynn Cohen Daisy Tahan

124 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Adam Cook ★★★★★ 32

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

**NOTE: This is less a review and more a rough analysis of the film so please do not read if you have yet to see the film.**

I think this will be Kaufman's Eyes Wide Shut in that it won't get the recognition it truly deserves for at least ten years. Synecdoche, New York is pure cinema. No other medium could possibly attempt to tell this story. It would be largely incomprehensible as a novel and too bogged down in detail to have any real emotional resonance. Whilst no theatre could do justice to the scale the story demands or unfold in such a unique time frame.

I appreciate that the film won’t be for everyone but I just fell…
Review by Arielrocks5 ★★★★★ 76

Charlie Kaufman is a man who understands the idea of the human existence in a way that won't be fully be able to accepted among the rest of the world because we all believe that the idea of life is that we just simply have to make the most of it for our own needs and sometimes the needs of others. When in actuality life is a giant stage for us to preform the pain, happiness, laughter, sadness, and pure angry towards our own existence.

And the audience is in the distant future, waiting for our stories to be finished only to then fade into the rest of the unknown entity that is death who is the director and stage…
Review by DirkH ★★★★★ 30

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

This is Charlie Kaufman's crowning achievement. It is not only his best film to date, it is one of the best films I have ever seen.

I rarely come across films anymore that manage to ensnare me in a narrative so disjointed, yet so enthralling I cannot help but be absorbed by it wholly. This film stretches the medium to its limits in a non-obfuscating way that is refreshing, unique and despite the deep layers it possesses, accessible in so far that there is an appealing and universal truth at the surface of it all.

Creation is art is life.

Kaufman's story has to be a film. It was created purposefully for it and he understands the medium so well.…
Review by Lucy ★★★★★ 4

someone, eventually: why do u like this movie so much
me: i have depression
Review by Evan ★★★★★ 5

Synecdoche, New York is a film that must be experienced by everyone. If you have yet to see this movie, I suggest you stop what you're doing and watch it now. Philip Seymour Hoffman truly was one of, if not the best actor of this generation. You're presence will forever be missed, RIP.
Review by YI JIAN ★★★★★ 21

Get busy living, or get busy dying.

Weeks lost in one cut, years lost between scenes, lives lost in a blink of an eye. Time is slipping through our fingers. You may mind your own problems, sort your own miseries as if they are the only thing in this world worthy of your attention. You may play pretend; pretend you are a fairy, or an actor, or an actor playing an actor playing an actor. Set a daily routine for yourself as a distraction from the fact that we are all hurtling towards death. Still, before you know it, reality will catch up with you. You will suddenly wake up on what soon to be your own deathbed and realize…

Recent reviews

Review by EmmaKruse ★★★★½

Damn that was insane. Very powerful while making no sense, except emotionally. Love when he drives the golf cart and the woman’s voice is talking to him
Review by Larry Taylor ★★★★

A sublime film about sadness and regret, Charlie Kaufman's specialties. P.S. Hoffman is brilliant as always, and the way the script can drift from absurdity to humor to love to sadness with such ease is marvelous to watch.
Review by Abby Grace ★★★★★

Art imitates life imitates art imitates life imitates art imitates life imitates art...
Review by kaz remiker ★★★★

the last 20 minutes of this movie are the best cinema i've ever seen
Review by Gustavo Sanjuán ★★★

Gremlins 2 for dummies.
Review by haformdopinons ★★★★★ 1

I’m done. I’m fucking done. This movie has destroyed me both intellectually and emotionally. I’m already constantly agonizing over wasted time and now I’m going to be stuck contemplating how each wasted second is bringing me closer to that grey, unfinished void. I’ll really need to think about this one. I almost wish I had waited longer to watch this as I imagine I won’t find something so ambitious, or breathtaking for a long while. It really is too complex, meta, philosophical, truthful, whatever you want for me to really wrap my head around now, but it’s going to stick around.
Review by Laura ★★★★

Oh my
Review by Vaka ★★★★½

It depresses me that at some point in our lives we’re all gonna turn into Cotard one way or another.
Review by Sam Cunneyworth ★★★★★ 2

It's been about a year since I first watched this film, and the same length of time since I've been utterly infatuated with Charlie Kaufman. The craftsmanship and absolute dedication to craft that goes into his writing is unparalleled, and this film absolutely proves that.

This, being my 4th watch, I believe is best described by the late Roger Ebert; "I think you have to see Charlie Kaufman's "Synecdoche, New York" twice. I watched it the first time and knew it was a great film and that I had not mastered it. The second time because I needed to. The third time because I will want to."
This film shows Charlie Kaufman's understanding and own personal view on the human…