- Film Review
- Reviewed By Susannah Straughan
-
3 out of 5
Writer Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation., Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) makes an ambitious directorial debut with this high-concept comedy drama. It starts as a breezy tale of midlife, middle-class dysfunction about neurotic New York theatre director Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman), trapped in a failing marriage. After work takes his wife Adele (Catherine Keener) away, Caden seeks artistic validation with an ambitious theatrical project to re-create his life inside a vast warehouse. The humour ranges from broad physical comedy (Caden's freak shaving accident) to the absurd - his would-be lover Hazel (Samantha Morton) lives in a house that is, literally, on fire. But as years pass and the evolving cast in the warehouse makes events ever harder to follow, Kaufman, like his protagonist, overreaches himself. Hoffman holds this sometimes baffling piece together with a multilayered performance as a man thwarted by a chronic inability to commit to the women in his life, and there's excellent support from Morton, Emily Watson, Michelle Williams and Dianne Wiest. Despite its flaws, this is light years ahead of the average Hollywood comedy.
Plot Summary
Drama starring Philip Seymour Hoffman. Theatre director Caden Cotard has marriage problems and issues with his health, but his artistic talent earns him the prestigious MacArthur Grant. Caden decides to channel all his energies into rehearsing a production based on his own history and experiences, an unending project that takes on a life of its own.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Caden Cotard
- Philip Seymour Hoffman
- Hazel
- Samantha Morton
- Claire Keen
- Michelle Williams
- Adele Lack
- Catherine Keener
- Tammy
- Emily Watson
- Ellen Bascomb / Millicent Weems
- Dianne Wiest
- Maria
- Jennifer Jason Leigh
- Madeleine Gravis
- Hope Davis
- Sammy Barnathan
- Tom Noonan
- Olive (age 4)
- Sadie Goldstein
- Olive (adult)
- Robin Weigert
Crew
- Director
- Charlie Kaufman
- Share this episode
-