Synecdoche, New York, Charlie Kaufman's Hamlet:

Appropriately (for something blended), after the halfway point, you will find yourself reaching desperately for some sense of what, in this film, is "fact." It's frustrating when you get lost in its layers.

So we like to treat it as a puzzle. And although it's not as lean and as clever as his other works (Spike Jonze clearly helps him here), or as flat-out suspenseful as, say, Adaptation, someone gave Kaufman the keys to the studio, and it's fun to watch him play.

Here is some background knowledge we'd like to offer up, based on a few weeks' worth of research and observation (and two viewings). *Possible spoiler alert: We're pretty sure that the movie is more enjoyable knowing these things in advance, but if you'd rather feel very virginal and completely in the dark about the whole thing, please skip until the next asterisk.

1)From the press release: "The movie is not a dream." We wish to add that the movie certainly contains dreams, followed by strange, funny abstractions and metaphors (like the infamous burning house), but aside form metaphorical meaning, the arc of the story does exist in the film's "reality."

2)For a definition of "synecdoche" [sin-eck-doe-kee], see our preview, here.

3)Cotard's Syndrome: "is a rare neuropsychiatric disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that he or she is dead, does not exist, is putrefying or has lost his/her blood or internal organs. Rarely, it can include delusions of immortality."

4)Synecdoche was conceived as Charlie Kaufman's first "horror" film. True to form, he follows through to the letter, creating a work of art that reflects the true meaning of the word. What is horrible about Caden Cotard's life and condition? Well, check that definition of Cotard's first, but aside from that, consider his connection to reality: he slowly loses track of time. Years pass, but he mistakes it for weeks. We witness the nagging dilution of a man's identity throughout his life, and his desperate attempts to create something artistic that signifies what it's like to live, until he succumbs to observing his life, without living it.

***OK, back again. It's a pretty depressing movie, really. And to boot, the story flounders in the middle as the complications increase, and we lose interest in the characters as our grasp on what's happening slips away. But that shouldn't discourage you from seeing it, if, in any capacity, you're fascinated by anything that we've said. Oh yeah, and it's funny too, even if we often found the audience was laughing in parts we read as dead serious.

The complications exists because nothing in modern realist dramas is "real," to Charlie Kaufman. It's not real because the brain is infinitely more complicated than a linear drama—he's not sure why the brain's reality doesn't play a larger part: dreams, voices in your head, distorted senses of self and others, metaphor as reality. Synecdoche tries to change the landscape of modern studio films in a serious way.

What we really wanted was to enjoy and be prodded by this foolishly complicated meditation on life, perspective, identity, and the creative process, with the eerie suspense of the film's first 40 minutes. When the movie completely shifts tones halfway through, we regret that change a little, because the first bit is so good, and so creepy, we wished it lasted for the next two hours. Ultimately, the overall effect is a little wonderful, and will provide a full evening's chatterbox at the coffee shop. Isn't that what going to the movies should be about?

Check out ex-Austinist, now international media mogul/hand model, Matthew Odam's excellent interview with Kaufman here, yoga details included.