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(1 - 33) of 33 OFCS Rating: 76% Fresh Page   1   "in this portrait of an artist as an old man in decline, no amount of reproduction, trickery or fantasy can or ever will suffice to deflect the inevitable end."   Eye for Film   Anton Bitel 3.5/5 "Charlie Kaufman's latest example of screenplay extrapolation begins with an obscure definitional allusion...and ends in some sort of self-referential apocalypse."   PopMatters   Bill Gibron C- "Kaufman's directorial debut is a piece of performance art that drips with intangible meaning, but lacks any sort of drive that compels the viewer to invest in this punishing two hours of furious artistic masturbation."   BrianOrndorf.com   Brian Orndorf "Kaufman comes closer to creating a kind of cinematic magic realism than any American director has done in living memory. And it's only his first film."   PopMatters   Chris Barsanti B "Kaufman's high concept narrative is an evocative and empathic way of looking at the inevitability of death, and features a concentrated use of great female actors of our era."   ColeSmithey.com   Cole Smithey 6/10 "Much like protagonists in previous Charlie Kaufman scripts, Caden is an artist in search of his art."   PopMatters   Cynthia Fuchs B+ "More like an interesting treatment for a movie than an actual movie."   Ozus' World Movie Reviews   Dennis Schwartz 4/4 "The picture, just about as surreal as David Lynch on his quirkiest day, is at once staggering, baffling, morose, frightening, hilarious, continuously inventive, and unspeakably touching."   DustinPutman.com   Dustin Putman B- "Nearly a month after watching Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut... I'm still figuring out whether it was a brilliant idea poorly executed or a poor idea brilliantly executed."   FilmJerk.com   Edward Havens A "It's an utterly brilliant film in that it evokes its intended feelings with apparent effortlessness -- not like a staged, contrived snapshot but like a wholly unique piece of art."   EricDSnider.com   Eric D. Snider 4/4 "It's an intricate piece to the puzzle of self-examination that began in Adaptation and continues into one of the most challenging, exasperating and beautiful works to hit theaters since probably Eternal Sunshine."   eFilmCritic.com   Erik Childress 1.5/4 "The artistic psyche has never been more joylessly explored than in Synecdoche, New York, the gallingly undisciplined directorial debut of revered screenwriter Charlie Kaufman."   Slant Magazine   Fernando F. Croce D "Pretentiously convoluted...in the case of Synecdoche, New York--to garble Plato's version of Socrates--the examined life is not worth watching."   One Guy's Opinion   Frank Swietek 4/5 "An intense and creative dramatization of the midlife crisis of a theater director whose fear of death and physical deterioration compels him into a mammoth project to give his life meaning."   Spirituality and Practice   Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat A+ "It's endlessly enthralling, intellectually radical moviemaking and a benchmark in art-as-publicized-therapy."   Cinepinion   Henry Stewart 2/4 "Some will call this art. I'll content myself with thinking of it as an ambitious misstep by a creative individual who failed to realize what he was trying to represent."   ReelViews   James Berardinelli "A sprawling, messy work of inspired brilliance and real humanity, a film that enthralls and affects even as it infuriates and confounds."   Cinematical   James Rocchi 10/10 "Starts out in what feels like the real world only to gradually become something that isn't, on the surface, real, but only resonates more strongly in the emotional department as it goes. It's a fantastic accomplishment."   Window to the Movies   Jeffrey Chen 65/100 "If Kaufman, like his protagonist, can't satisfactorily realize his masterpiece, it's not due to a lack of effort."   MovieMartyr.com   Jeremy Heilman 5/5 "Click for full review"   Movies for the Masses   Joseph Proimakis "...though the headless chickens dance."   UGO   Keith Uhlich A- "The screenwriter who comments upon the human condition through staged recreations, be it from John Malkovich's brain or the sets of "Eternal Sunshine," has delivered his most affecting work with this flawedmasterpiece."   Reeling Reviews   Laura Clifford 4/10 "This makes the film interesting in concept but disappointing in execution. And surreal touches added throughout that just do not add up to anything but a film more challenging than rewarding."   rec.arts.movies.reviews   Mark R. Leeper "It was Charlie Kaufman, at the multiplex, with a mindfrak."   Flick Filosopher   MaryAnn Johanson A- "Kaufman's meta-meta mind-boggler is, ultimately, far more heady and haunting than maddeningly egocentric."   Lessons of Darkness   Nick Schager 5/5 "O simples fato de Kaufman ter dirigido o filme é o bastante para que o círculo final se feche e complete a estrutura elegante, complexa e estimulante concebida por um dos roteiristas mais fascinantes que Hollywood já produziu."   Cinema em Cena   Pablo Villaca 4/5 "while I am still not certain how it all fits together or what it all means, I can tell you that if you do take a chance and go to see it, it will stick in your brain for a long time to come regardless of whether you love it or hate it."   eFilmCritic.com   Peter Sobczynski 4/5 "As a writer, Kaufman has used surrealism to humorously examine humanity. And now as a director he goes even further, creating something that feels like Woody Allen crossed with David Lynch. It's funny and emotional, but also impenetrable."   Shadows on the Wall   Rich Cline 5/5 "Every scene is pitched at the highest level and acted accordingly."   eFilmCritic.com   Rob Gonsalves A "This might be the best film of 2008."   Laramie Movie Scope   Robert Roten 3/10 "Charlie Kaufman's existential fantasia with the odd name is a weird, tiresome rumination on love, hate and the creative process. Fellini did it far better in '8 1/2' in 1963."   SSG Syndicate   Susan Granger 5/10 "Whatever work it takes to unpack the film's levels upon levels of meaning, it's not worth it... Unremittingly grim, without any spark of life."   Antagony & Ecstasy   Tim Brayton 4/4 "A benchmark for this moment in time. To not recognize that is a bad mistake, and a terrible shame."   Film Freak Central   Walter Chaw  (1 - 33) of 33 OFCS Rating: 76% Fresh Page   1