Synecdoche New York

I went to see Charlie Kaufman's new movie and directorial debut Synecdoche, New York yesterday. Being from Los Angeles, it was amusing for me to hear how all the people in front of me in line couldn't pronounce the word Synecdoche when buying their tickets, and neither could I. I decided to spare the poor guy working the box office and just asked for "two for New York please". I'm assuming this is a regular mispronunciation for those who do not live in or around the N.Y. area, but sometimes it has a humiliating effect on my ego when I don't know how to pronounce something.

Anyhow, back to the movie...

I'm quite the follower of Kaufman's films. I find his work to be extremely entertaining and thought provoking. Not only are the concepts original, but the characters are realistic and complex. His characters are usually troubled...somewhat flawed and pathetic, but not cliche in the usual "tortured artist" depiction. I always know if a character is realistic by how embarrassed I feel for them.

I found the premise of the movie to be really bizarrely original. At least with "Eternal Sunshine" , "Being John Malcovich" and "Adaptation" there was a driving force -or point- that the movies seemed to be driving toward, but with this one I felt a little lost by whether or not there was a point I was missing, or if this was indeed just a depiction of a man's life and relationships as he grows older, attempting to capture it all in a play for some voyeuristic meaning he has yet to understand.

Overall, the movie was definitely worth the watch, and worth the contemplation that will inevitably follow.
I remain a devout Kaufman admirer.