Read Negative User Reviews for Synecdoche, New York

2

AkashVijayJan 19, 2015

Synecdoche New York was booed when it was first screened at cannes. Having now seen it, I know why. First off let us say in defence of Synecdoche New York, that it is quite nicely lit and the art direction creates a visual atmosphere that isSynecdoche New York was booed when it was first screened at cannes. Having now seen it, I know why. First off let us say in defence of Synecdoche New York, that it is quite nicely lit and the art direction creates a visual atmosphere that is both elegant and soothing. Now all that's missing is a meaningful script, a decent director and a reason why. Synecdoche New York is the sort of self-important twaddle that makes audiences snore and critics grovel. The meta-physical mumbo-jumbo the film exudes makes no sense whatsoever and the film itself resists unlocking. Prepare to be told that it's a masterpiece. One over-zealous critic called it a "religious experience". No wonder church attendance is low on sunday.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman came across as the only actor who actually gave a damn about the film. But his performance is so thoroughly engulfed in the long shadow of pretentiousness cast by hack writer/director Charlie Kaufman that it's hard to praise it. It's a real shame because Synecdoche New York has enough poetry for several great films but Kaufman somehow manages to muff it up. He's made a 2 hour bore-fest that possesses no thematic substance whatsoever. This is a failure of epic proportions. You've got to be a genius to make a movie this bad.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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3

EpilepticDec 7, 2014

Synecdoche New York was booed when it was first screened at cannes. Having now seen it, I know why. First off let us say in defence of Synecdoche New York, that it is quite nicely lit and the art direction creates a visual atmosphere that isSynecdoche New York was booed when it was first screened at cannes. Having now seen it, I know why. First off let us say in defence of Synecdoche New York, that it is quite nicely lit and the art direction creates a visual atmosphere that is both elegant and soothing. Now all that's missing is a meaningful script, a decent director and a reason why. Synecdoche New York is the sort of self-important twaddle that makes audiences snore and critics grovel. The meta-physical mumbo-jumbo the film exudes makes no sense whatsoever and the film itself resists unlocking. Prepare to be told that it's a masterpiece. One over-zealous critic called it a "religious experience". No wonder church attendance is low on sunday.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman came across as the only actor who actually gave a damn about the film. But his performance is so thoroughly engulfed in the long shadow of pretentiousness cast by hack writer/director Charlie Kaufman that it's hard to praise it. It's a real shame because Synecdoche New York has enough poetry for several great films but Kaufman somehow manages to muff it up. He's made a 2 hour bore-fest that possesses no thematic substance whatsoever. This is a failure of epic proportions. You've got to be a genius to make a movie this bad.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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0

zigazagaJul 27, 2013

i gave up the third time a character in this film discussed the colour of excrement. I think it sums it up as scatological gibberish. It may well be one of the best american independent movies but that says more about the state of US cinemai gave up the third time a character in this film discussed the colour of excrement. I think it sums it up as scatological gibberish. It may well be one of the best american independent movies but that says more about the state of US cinema than it does about this tedious self-indulgent nonsense. Hard to say what's more depressing the film itself or the amount of time, talent and money wasted on making it.… Expand

2 of 6 users found this helpful24

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1

YoursTrulyNov 9, 2012

I love Philip Seymour Hoffman. That being said, this is long and confusing. It is a convoluted cluster-f**k of overly-ambitious ideas and poor directing. The plot of this...this...thing is the equivalent to the nonsensical ramblings thatI love Philip Seymour Hoffman. That being said, this is long and confusing. It is a convoluted cluster-f**k of overly-ambitious ideas and poor directing. The plot of this...this...thing is the equivalent to the nonsensical ramblings that spill from a homeless man's mouth as he succumbs to dementia on the street corner. In short, Synecdoche, New York is a frustrating waste of time.… Expand

1 of 4 users found this helpful13

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2

WalterEgoNov 9, 2008

A torture to sit through. The only relief for me came when Hoffman attacks the grating Jennifer Jason Leigh and her awful German accent. Unfortunately, he doesn't kill her and she escapes through the hole in a fence, no doubt to turn up A torture to sit through. The only relief for me came when Hoffman attacks the grating Jennifer Jason Leigh and her awful German accent. Unfortunately, he doesn't kill her and she escapes through the hole in a fence, no doubt to turn up unwelcome again some other near unwatchable "indie" film and twist her lips into funny shapes. This film has already been made: Watch Fassbinder's "Berlin Alexanderplatz" to see how it was done the right way.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

0

GeneS.Jan 4, 2009

As you can see there is quite a stark contrast between what the "reviewers" think of this movie and what people in the "real world" think of this mess. Can I give it zero stars? I wanted to like this movie. Really, I did. The cast is first As you can see there is quite a stark contrast between what the "reviewers" think of this movie and what people in the "real world" think of this mess. Can I give it zero stars? I wanted to like this movie. Really, I did. The cast is first rate and it started out interestingly enough. But the movie decends into a muddled, meandering mess. And talk about depressing! The story within a story within a story is worthy of exploration but the use of symbolism and allegory to such an extreme, combined with the fact that the story (if you want to call it that) is VERY depressing and ultimately fruitless ---- well, I really wish I had that 2 plus hours back in my life. What a compete, utter, total waste of time. The fact that I'm even thinking about it now angers me but I figured if I can spare others from my misfortune, maybe some good has come out of it. How this movie even got made is a mystery for the ages.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful

0

WookieSMar 11, 2009

Worst movie I've seen ages. Watching paint dry would've been a lot more entertaining and useful than wasting 45 minutes of my life with this (couldn't stay any longer). Kauffman should realize he is a screenwriter and stick to it.

0 of 2 users found this helpful

1

FAKKerApr 15, 2009

I can almost always find something to like even in the worst of films but this time I drew a blank. This was probably the first time I couldn't watch a whole film at once. I don't get why this movie was made and I don't I can almost always find something to like even in the worst of films but this time I drew a blank. This was probably the first time I couldn't watch a whole film at once. I don't get why this movie was made and I don't understand how it was allowed to me made. Pointless drivel that I wish I could purge completely from my brain. Perfect for the masochist.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful

3

asmithNov 22, 2008

Circuitous, self indulgent, melodramatic masturbation. A loosely stung together, incoherent narrative. Rather than admit that they can't quite put it together, people just pretend that it's profound.

0 of 3 users found this helpful

0

JeffKNov 24, 2008

Perfect example of the fact that weird doesn't necessarily mean deep.

0 of 1 users found this helpful

1

AngelaS.Nov 26, 2008

Too lugubrious, what is the point of the story? Characters didn't come alive. Poor man's Woody Allen.

0 of 1 users found this helpful

3

JayHMar 12, 2009

I just deplore these pretentious artsy-fartsy movies. The cast seems to be sleepwalking through this one, even Philip Seymour Hoffman is boring. Way overlong, the scattered story is poorly developed. Rubbish. I am not at all a fan of Charlie I just deplore these pretentious artsy-fartsy movies. The cast seems to be sleepwalking through this one, even Philip Seymour Hoffman is boring. Way overlong, the scattered story is poorly developed. Rubbish. I am not at all a fan of Charlie Kaufman.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful

2

PeterK.Mar 15, 2009

More French cinema stylings done by Americans. Too long, too overdone, too many other things to waste time doing than watching repetitive existentialist doppelgangers "making art".

0 of 2 users found this helpful

1

JackL.Nov 14, 2008

This is what happens when faux intellectuals in Hollywood read a little existential philosophy and post modern theory at Brown and think they are geniuses because they get high in their Lexus while driving on the 10 and only speak to the This is what happens when faux intellectuals in Hollywood read a little existential philosophy and post modern theory at Brown and think they are geniuses because they get high in their Lexus while driving on the 10 and only speak to the sycophants that surround them in the solipsism of their Lexus while driving on the 10 in Hollywood and being stoned. Talladaga Nights is a deeper movie about the artistic process than this crap.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

1

MelissaP.Nov 23, 2008

I saw this movie in Bethesda MD last night. I believe it was the worst movie I

0 of 1 users found this helpful

0

MattBNov 24, 2008

A string of non sequiturs under a blanket of cynicism.

0 of 1 users found this helpful

1

tjNov 26, 2008

The film starts very well. Hoffman is terrific and his neuroses and interactions with his wife and family are absurd, but seem like exaggerations of the human condition--and there is humor. If Kaufman had simply stuck with showing this The film starts very well. Hoffman is terrific and his neuroses and interactions with his wife and family are absurd, but seem like exaggerations of the human condition--and there is humor. If Kaufman had simply stuck with showing this family develop he might have had something. The movie then gets stupidly complicated (that passes for clever apparently). I have this feeling that people who are a little bit smart figure "oh this is getting complex, so there must be something profound going on." Well, there isn't. And Kaufman's characters endlessly talk and tell, rather than show. Characters become less and less human. All humor and human feeling are gone by the time the movie is an hour old and then it just circles and circles endlessly down the drain.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

1

WillT.Nov 29, 2008

The only reason I gave this film a 1 is that it could be used as an implement of torture at Guantanamo Base and may well result in valuable intelligence from the detainees there. At least I was ready to spill it all during this grotesquerie. The only reason I gave this film a 1 is that it could be used as an implement of torture at Guantanamo Base and may well result in valuable intelligence from the detainees there. At least I was ready to spill it all during this grotesquerie. Perhaps the director (and I use that term gingerly) should be indicted on the charge of being so full of himself that he endangers the rest of us with an explosion of his own ego. At Guantanamo that could be just the kind of threat that will destroy a man's last defenses.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

2

LaurenD.Nov 29, 2008

Charlie Kaufman was tragically misguided in his directorial debut; even the brilliant cast couldn't save Synecdoche, NY from such unfortunate treachory. It's really a shame to see a film with so much potential just fall all over Charlie Kaufman was tragically misguided in his directorial debut; even the brilliant cast couldn't save Synecdoche, NY from such unfortunate treachory. It's really a shame to see a film with so much potential just fall all over itself creating a heaping mess that can't possibly end soon enough.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful

2

petermApr 24, 2009

I too can barely believe this got made, or at least that the distributor didn't demand that it be substantially shortened. seymour hoffman is great and the early scenes are promising. but it becomes so ridiculous and so un-related to I too can barely believe this got made, or at least that the distributor didn't demand that it be substantially shortened. seymour hoffman is great and the early scenes are promising. but it becomes so ridiculous and so un-related to the reality of anyone who's not a writer without economic constraints that it is a complete waste of time. its a shame; 'adaptation', particularly shows kaufman can produce genius, but what this film says about his mental state right now is worrying.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful

3

JJonesJun 24, 2009

Oh my gosh this is a tedious and depressing movie. I usually go head first into these types of films (I greatly enjoyed David Lynch's challenging Inland Empire), but I just couldn't take it. This movie seems to have no reason to Oh my gosh this is a tedious and depressing movie. I usually go head first into these types of films (I greatly enjoyed David Lynch's challenging Inland Empire), but I just couldn't take it. This movie seems to have no reason to live other than to obsessively, repeatedly, depressingly explore a tragic and possibly psychotic worldview. This film has many fans which will gladly dole out shallow judgment upon those who will not submit to this whiny, annoying movie, but I submit that they are either in love with the idea of such a film (and not the film itself) or they are so desensitized that it takes this kind of horror-disguised-as-drama to get through. I am sooooo tired of blue color-cast, shoe-gazing films about how terrible the human experience is. Heck, even the shows and commercials on TV all seem to be turning blue just to follow suit. Just because you are depressed, psychotic and have a large budget does not mean you have the right to inflict such a monstrosity on the public.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

0

TerenceS.Nov 21, 2008

This movie is one of the worst shows that I have ever seen. Even in most horrible movies there's an element of camp. This has none. Don't bother with trying to find a point to it, I'll save you a trip, it has no point. This movie is one of the worst shows that I have ever seen. Even in most horrible movies there's an element of camp. This has none. Don't bother with trying to find a point to it, I'll save you a trip, it has no point. Metacritic, you really let me down on this one. The movie itself is just a thrown together bundle of crap, that is probably just Kaufman expressing all of his own fears. I can only think of one reason Kaufman decided to direct it himself. Every self respecting director probably looked at the script and said, "There is no way I can make a movie out of this." Kaufman tries to combine elements of Jungian concepts, borrows imagry from an over used Shakespearian expression, and the movie suffers from Kaufman's own now over inflated ego.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful

1

DerekL.Nov 24, 2008

Pretentious and pointless -- this is the worst type of filmmaking. I love intelligent, complex films, and Charlie Kaufman has made some fine ones in the past. But Synecdoche is an unmitigated disaster. It's long, plodding, boring, Pretentious and pointless -- this is the worst type of filmmaking. I love intelligent, complex films, and Charlie Kaufman has made some fine ones in the past. But Synecdoche is an unmitigated disaster. It's long, plodding, boring, depressing, and terribly short on ideas. I feel this is the type of film people walk out of saying "I'm not smart enough to understand it." Don't be fooled. It's just a bad movie.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

0

EerieEggAug 9, 2019

Pretentious/Self-Important -- the ideas the movie brings up are very obvious and in my honest opinion seem as though they came directly from reddit's "I'm 14 and this is deep" subreddit.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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