Synecdoche, New York

Phillip Seymour Hoffman - surely one of the greatest actors ever!

In this wonderfully convoluted story (written by Charlie Kaufman) , a portrait of a tragically convoluted man, Hoffman commands every scene with a breath-taking range of emotion, without every stealing a scene. Every film he does is a tour de force - he is the character, and the character is him. For me, an amazing skill, a gift, to bring such a diverse amalgam of portraits to the screen.

Along with Hoffman, an incredible cast of women: Catherine Keener, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Hope Davis, Dianne Wiest, to name only a few.

In every respect, stellar performances in a story that moves fluidly between "reality" (whatever that is) and imagination - in Caden Cotard's mind, nothing is clear ... a ceaseless dream to do something great, but never doing it. Life is constant rehearsal, growing ever-larger, including more and more players, scenes, but the play never happens.

With a fine makeup scheme (Judy Chin), we see Caden and everyone else age and die.

Life and love slip away ... without purpose, without accomplishment - a lot of hopes and dreams, but in the end, nothing! Always too late.

But it is just fate that drives him?

Could he, might he, make other choices?

Synecdoche refers to a figure of speech in which a part refers to the whole, as in "the law" referring to a police officer, or "all hands on deck" referring to sailors.

Synecdoche, a play on the New York town of Schenectady, reminds us that Caden is everyone ... his quest, his confusion, his sorrow, his fear - the common stuff of our common humanity.

There's a clergy preaching at a funeral, who dares to tell the truth about life ... not some hokey religious stuff, but the hard reality - is there anything to it? Or is all just a big rehearsal for a play that never happens?

I'm particularly sensitive to the religious dimension - I know how easily the church "fakes it" for the world, forcing millions of people to "fake it" as well. It's as if the church has taken some simple truths and put on too much makeup, over-dressed and can only talk in the most exaggerated forms. The pomp of the Middle Ages and the "more is better" energy of America has done great harm to the gospel - a simple of message of love, forgiveness and hope. Maybe Caden needs to know that life isn't a rehearsal for a play that never happens; it is the play, and every part is real, here and now. That life consists, not of big plays, but small moments, wherein we often fail to live up to our own expectations, but often succeed as well.

The film moves effortlessly between past and present - with careful editing, directing, keeping the story intact. I was pulled into Caden's sorrow, enjoyed his rare moments of pleasure, and laughed at his bittersweet clown-like failures.

A film worth seeing.