Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Phillip Seymour Hoffman - damn good actor. Charlie Kaufman - damn fine writer, and in this case, director. Smear them together into a grey, viscous, undulating paste and this is what you get. It's an utterly apt description, trust me. Those familiar with Kaufman's work which includes 'Being John Malcovich' (1999), 'Adaption' (2002) and 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' (2004) will know to expect an unconventional blend of comedy, drama, absorbing imagery and brain bending ideas. 
The film follows Hoffman's character through the journey of the latter half of his life. As a theatre director he undertakes an ambitious production that involves recreating New York within a warehouse, his actors playing out ordinary life within the city. His complicated relationships and obsessions with his health merge with his creation and lines blur. 
Kaufman has really made a film of incredible scope. It incorporates amazing detail, dizzying shifts in time and more motifs and metaphors than you could shake your dainty ring finger at. Consequently I think it demands repeated viewings and recommend sitting down to the extra features to gain some insights from the actors and crew. It's one of those films about the 'human condition' and may come across as navel gazing to some but I found it to possess a depth lacking from the vast majority of movies today. Yeah man, you guessed right, I liked it. 
4/5