Gotta go personal here cause not all Playlist members might agree: I gotta admit, I have a lot of respect for Gleiberman and White’s views here.
Owen Gleiberman, EW: It’s a hallowed ritual of film culture. An artist makes a movie that is so labyrinthine and obscure, such a road map of blind alleys, such a turgid challenge to sit through that it sends most people skulking out of the theater — except, that is, for a cadre of eggheads who hail the work as a visionary achievement. It happened in 1961, with that high-society puzzle obscura Last Year at Marienbad, and in 2006, with David Lynch’s through-the-looking-glass bore Inland Empire… Now Charlie Kaufman, the brain-tickling screenwriter of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, has directed his first movie, Synecdoche, New York (he also wrote it), and yes, it is one of those ”visionary” what-the-hell doozies. Prepare to be told that it’s a masterpiece.
Normally, we dislike both these guys’ views and opinions intensely, but part of us agrees with what they have to say about ‘Synecdoche’ even though we did like some and lots of it. There thoughts here is an unpopular opinion, but there are parts of what they say that we totally believe, especially White’s hipster sheepherd mentality that sarcastically mocks anyone suggesting anything Kaufman does can’t be less than totally brilliant.
Armand White, New York Press: Kaufman’s artiness ignores political reality—further congratulating hipsters who prefer Todd Haynes–style narcissism to Todd Solondz’s humane sociological explorations (Kaufman imitates both)… Pity those nerds and fashion-sheep who’ll waste time trying to connect Kaufman’s symbols, cite the many David Lynch references and puzzle for ways to use “synecdoche” in daily conversation.
Quotes cherry-picked/found at AwardsDaily. I should probably find some positive quotes to balance this post, but we’ve already by-and-large said a lot of incredibly positive things about this sometimes infuriating, sometimes mind-blowing film. Again, it’s a film that if I’m in a bad mood when thinking about makes me want to dismiss it and when I’m in a good mood it gives my intellectual synapses an incredible hard-on. Another thing to note if we haven’t already: while incredibly funny in an absurdist manner, ‘Synecdoche’ is also heartbreaking too (hence the nod of Eggers title). It’s so many damn things at once which is its genius and achilles heel.
