Kauffman dazzles, Kerrigan flops

One of the films causing a buzz is Charlie Kauffman's directorial debut SYNEDOCHE, NEW YORK. Confusing title? Let’s just call it the tip of the iceberg.

Those that know Kauffman’s dalliances with cinema so far, most notably his scripts for ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND and ADAPTATION, will have some inkling of the mind-bending journey to follow, but few will expect this Lynchian puzzle-box. This morality tale starring the sublime – consistently so, it seems these days – Philip Seymour Hoffman, about a disillusioned theatre director’s struggle to make sense of his life, is as mystifying as it is ambitious (a life-size model of New York!?). It may also be a modern masterpiece. It’s difficult to tell on one viewing, though with a charm that draws you in rather than pushes you away, it certainly suggests it’s along those lines. One to get you talking, if nothing else.

In stark contrast to Kauffman's majestic affair is Justin Kerrigan’s incredibly personal effort, I KNOW YOU KNOW.

Set in south Wales in 1988, the film is a semi-autobiographical ode to the director’s relationship with his father, played by Robert Carlyle. The bond is strong between father and son (13-year-old Jamie, played by newcomer Arron Fuller) and it’s one that will be tested as the pair’s realities soon begin to drift apart.

This purely intimate affair paints a stark contrast to Synecdoche’s grand aspirations, and, unfortunately, the sense you got watching Kauffman’s film, that you were possibly witnessing something magnificent unfolding, is also markedly absent.

It can feel a little mean to criticise a film with such obvious heart, like trashing a charity pop single, but, despite a good turn from Fuller, the film can’t help but allow itself to be swamped by sentimentality, and offers little plot to get the teeth into. A film for the filmmaker rather than the audience.

With Spike Lee’s MIRACLE IN ST ANNA rolling into town for it's gala premiere in the evening, the feeling that movies are top of London’s menu is beginning to sink in. Tony Griffiths