'Synecdoche' by way of Louisville

 

It's the kind of discount movie theater where $5 buys you the largest tub of 'corn -- good, too! -- and the only reason the ticket's $5 is because it's a weekend and "Synecdoche, New York" is billed as a "Louisville exclusive."

That means there's nowhere else in the roughly million-person metropolitan area where you can catch this art house flick (regular tickets at the Village 8 theater are $3, but the best bargain of the week is Tuesday, when it's a cool two bucks).

Your resident Gold Rusher, on a short stint in this Kentucky hometown for some Papa Gold Rusher medical hiccups, couldn't resist a cheap indie movie that's been in limited release, even in L.A., and a chance to spend a few hours among the local cinephiles -- all two dozen of them. 

Knowing ahead of time that Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut kicked up some dust on the festival circuit after premiering at Cannes and made a number of high-profile critics' top 10 of '08 lists, we were happy to part with the ducats. Kaufman's writing? Always been big fans. Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman and a stellar cast? Sounds good, even though the plot, as described in reviews, struck us as incomprehensible and, well, pretentious. It's racked up a couple Independent Spirit Award noms, which may or may not be a ringing endorsement.

Chatter before the movie started -- what, no trailers at the cut-rate house? -- was of the cinema-snob variety. Folks in the row behind discussed everything from "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Doubt" to the French thriller "Tell No One." Go ahead and bag on smallish-town America -- we sure do -- but you can't say Louisville is full of uncultured heathens. A shoebox-size screening room with some 29 reverential patrons who'd plunked down hard-earned cash says otherwise.

We all laughed in what we assumed were the right places of "Synecdoche, New York," and nobody walked out in a huff, muttering about disjointed storytelling and nonsensical dialogue. But as the lights came up at the end, most of these film-conversant folks were left scratching their (egg)heads. 

We were reminded of an "Entertainment Weekly" review that gave the flick a sour D-plus, calling it a "turgid challenge" to sit through and saying, "it is one of those 'visionary' what-the-hell doozies. Prepare to be told that it's a masterpiece."

Some people have done just that. Not us, and judging from the reaction the other night, not our multiplex mates either. Who says you can't go home again?