Charlie Kaufman is an evil, mad genius. During his time as a screenwriter, he has crafted some of the most wacky and original story ideas and some of the most out there yet still spectacularly sympathetic characters of our time. He's taught us what it would be like to climb inside of John Malkovich, how to adapt the un-adaptable, and why we should cherish each and every memory with a loved one.

With Synecdoche, New York, Kaufman has had the reigns let loose as he takes to the directors chair for the first time with his own material, and the results couldn't be much more...shall we say...Kaufman-esque.

The story kicks off with Caden Cotard (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) on a successful run directing the stage version of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Upon his completion of that, he is awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant, and sets out to take on a theatre project so ambitious, it will take him the rest of his life to complete. Caden's wife leaves to pursue her painting career in Europe with their daughter and never returns.  Undeterred, Caden continues on his quest, finds a performance warehouse, and begins recreating a mock up of the city around him within the space, and begins to cast actors in the roles of regular everyday people, including one as himself. Things frequently spiral out of control, and the viewers grip on reality is threatened from the get go.

Synecdoche was a script Kaufman took two years to write, and what he has thrown up on the screen looks like an ambitious piece of overworked genius. Kaufman introduces so many ideas, themes, and feelings to the audience without ever really elaborating or exploring any of them. He seems to have a lot to say about life, art, death, relationships, illness, anonymity, but seems to have overstretched himself with this picture. He has crafted some interesting characters and storylines, and so many scenes are wonderful on their own. Unfortunately, the synergy of his direction and screenwriting never really add up to anything, and many times, it seems like Kaufman is being absurd just for the sake of being absurd. This is the kind of film you want to love, but really end up only loving the conversations trying to analyze the film with friends. It's as though Charlie Kaufman made a movie for Charlie Kaufman in a language only he understands. Kaufman is a master of method in his madness, but with this film it appears as though the madness has won out.  It's overly convoluted and becomes so difficult to follow, the audiences is taken aback and left not caring.

But there is so much to love in this film despite it's story. Kaufman has written some excellent roles and cast phenomenal actors in their shoes. Catherine Keener, Diane Weist, Michelle Williams, Samantha Morton, and Emily Watson all bring wonderful layers to the story, while Phillip Seymour Hoffman holds the weight of the picture around him to keep us interested in Caden until  til the bitter end.  Tom Noonan as Sammy, playing Caden, does such a magnificent job with his character, and it is easily the best performance of this Robocop 2 alum's career.  Jon Brion has again crafted another download-worthy score with some great songs with lyrics written by Charlie Kaufman. The set design and cinematography will humble you with how impressive they are, but, unfortunately in the end, audiences will be left wondering what this film would look like had it been directed by its intended director, Spike Jonze. Kaufman works with directors who understand his stuff, and they then create these amazing movies that are accessible. Kaufman's directors seem to translate his material--or censor parts of Kaufman--in order to create a successful movie, and he certainly lacked this accessible translation in his own direction.

While this film certainly isn't a waste of your time, Synecdoche, New York is a town you will not hurriedly revisit. It's a sprawling piece of ambitious filmmaking, and that alone is difficult to dismiss as a failure, but unfortunately Kaufman has pulled this film too much from his head and not enough from his heart.

Review by: Greg MacLennan

The U.S. is a melting pot of different cultures, and in modern times, people hardly bat an eye at couples who mix these cultures and ethnicities, but what if you had a problem with your own culture? And, better yet, what if you had multiple cultures and didn't know exactly where you belong? This is the problem with Ray Rehem (Zachary Levi from NBC's Chuck), who must come to terms with his Pakistani dad and his white mom while finding his place in the world in the film Shades of Ray.

While this film has similar themes as The Namesake, which deals with an Indian American son trying to relate with his dad and ignore his heritage by assimilating into the white world, Shades of Ray takes on these themes with a large dose of humor.

The film centers on the day when Ray's dad shows up on his steps after Ray's mom kicks him out. His dad immediately ignores the fact that Ray isn't the traditional Pakistani son (he's an actor/bartender, a fact he hides from his dad) and tries to set him up with a half-Pakistani girl, even though Ray has proposed to his white bread girlfriend who has left on a vacay with her super white fam without giving Ray an answer. Ray begins to question his feelings for his lady and the years he has ignored his culture when he begins to fall for his fellow half-Pakistani-half-white friend.

Greg and I walked into this film with very low expectations (except I love Chuck and knew of Levi's winning charm and comedy chops), and we walked away with a belly full of laughs. The film isn't incredibly funny the whole way through, but it is charming with a relatively well-regonized cast of Kathy Baker, Brian George, Bonnie Sommerville, and Mama Petrelli from Heroes.

The film works because of Levi, who shines, even through his fake tan. And his chemistry with both his parents is touching. Although he works well with his comedic buddy (Fran Kanz), he downplays the too-big jokes that Kanz tries to drive home so blatantly and desperately. And, though, the plot is a smidgeon cliche and feels incredibly autobiographical, it plays with tough themes as race, religion, culture, acting, and love with a touch of humor and lots of heart. There are no shades of gray here, only Shades of Ray.

(check out the trailer below!)

Review by: Darcie Duttweiler

With their blond, perky marriage, Dax (Cy Carter) and Olive (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) are the picture of happiness. They have dinner parties, they live in a cute house, but oh, wait? What's that? That would be the looming of conflict.

In A Quiet Little Marriage, Dax and Olive battle over the decision to have a baby. Dax, who had an implied fucked up childhood, puts his foot down on the thought of bringing a baby into this cruel world and expects Olive to do the same. What ensues is a film of a couple who try to see who can out passive aggressive each other. Along for the ride are their complicated confidants, Dax's troubled drug-addict brother (Jimmi Simpson) and Olive's Alzheimered dad.

Written (with some help from the leads) and directed by newcomer Mo Perkins, A Quiet Little Marriage has minimal character development and plot advancement other than the baby drama and burdensome relatives.  While we know that Dax and Olive are indeed happy and love each other, we don't see it much except for the rampant amount of sexing.

The plot is a bit formulaic and unsurprising, but the flick has some wonderful performances. Carter is perhaps not the strongest of leading men, but Ellis is a delight and surprise. Known mostly for her stint as the Waitress on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (in fact, a great deal of the cast has roots on the show too, including Ellis's hubby, Charlie Day), Ellis worked her dramatic chops to full effect. She illuminates the screen, which is rare in a film who's cinematographer seems to hate lighting the scenes, and the audience feels for her the most in the film's journey. Simpson plays his part well, and Danny DeVito's daughter even makes an appearance as his mute, drug addict GF.

All-in-all, A Quiet Little Marriage is a contemplative and fairly authentic look at the minutiae of marriage. It's at times quiet and soft, and at others, it's messy and full of conflict. The film itself can be described as just that: quiet and a little bit messy.

Written by: Darcie Duttweiler