'Synechdoche New York' a complex but riveting watch

Director: Charlie Kaufman

Cast: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Tom Noonan, Christine Keener

Take a very deep breath and concentrate. Kaufman brings us one of the most complex films of recent years, full of switching plots built on several layers, yet still a richly entertaining, thoughtful, funny-sad observation of the human condition.

You can’t ask for more, even if you require a full focus to catch all that’s going on in a story about life as a drama within a drama being produced as a stage drama.

The quite excellent Hoffman, on whose shoulders the film rests, plays the weird theatre director Caden Cotard who sets about the staging of what he believes will be a seminal play. His efforts engage several women in his life.

This is a film very much out of the mainstream but still one that will have you glued to every twist and turn.

Star Rating: 4/5