DaveM
04-14-2009, 10:21 PM
Pronounced "Sin-ek-DUH-kee" (and intended in part as a pun on Schenectady), here's a film for those who like headgames and challenges (the word means more or less a part of something that stands for the whole). From screenplay writer and first-time director Charlie Kaufman, who has done several similar efforts (Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, etc.), along with a top-notch cast, the story runs as one huge spiral as stage producer Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) receives a MacArthur "genius grant" while his personal life is spiraling out of control. He rents a huge warehouse, builds a replica of New York, and sets out to create theater on a grand scale with thousands of actors not only performing but ultimately living a non-linear story which takes on most of the same "issues" as its creator and eventually draws him in as a participant.
One of those films that makes far more sense on a second viewing than on the first (and more than worth that second viewing), this had a VERY limited theatrical release and only recently made it onto DVD. Expect to pay attention, make sure to hit "pause" when you get up to go to the bathroom, and leave the popcorn alone--you'll be rewarded. You won't come away with the meaning of life or any such revelation, but you will think, and you just might be intrigued by what the movie leaves you thinking about. I must say it left me considering any number of things after working through the multi-layered tale of how the unexamined life may not be worth living, but the fully examined life just might not be what you expected. And not only in the movie.
Have fun, folks...I don't dare say more or I'll give something away.
One of those films that makes far more sense on a second viewing than on the first (and more than worth that second viewing), this had a VERY limited theatrical release and only recently made it onto DVD. Expect to pay attention, make sure to hit "pause" when you get up to go to the bathroom, and leave the popcorn alone--you'll be rewarded. You won't come away with the meaning of life or any such revelation, but you will think, and you just might be intrigued by what the movie leaves you thinking about. I must say it left me considering any number of things after working through the multi-layered tale of how the unexamined life may not be worth living, but the fully examined life just might not be what you expected. And not only in the movie.
Have fun, folks...I don't dare say more or I'll give something away.