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January 04, 2009
Different Strokes
Compare and contrast Manohla Dargis' extraordinarily well-written piece on Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, NY to this review of the same film by Rex Reed, which has been sticking in my craw since he wrote it in October.
It doesn't even sound like these two are reviewing the same movie. I personally thought Dargis' piece was logically thought, insightful, and beautifully wordsmithed, whereas Reed's, though meticulously written in its own way, is just so incredibly vapid that I can only hope he actually slept through half the movie.
Posted by kvoynar at January 4, 2009 11:18 AM
Comments
Reed's review was one of the first I read of Synecdoche, and I couldn't get over how inane it seemed. Granted, I love Kaufman's work, so I was pre-disposed to like his film, but Reed's review seemed mean-spirited and pointless. It is more rant than review.
Posted by: Chris Hansen ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.mcnblogs.com/filmessent/nav-commenters.gif)
at January 4, 2009 12:24 PM
There is a time honored tradition of taking the opinion of some reviewers and doing precisely the opposite of what they suggest.
And then there is someone like Rex Reed. What is remarkable is that he is still in print somewhere. I saw a clip of him commenting on one of those VH-1 "let's lob bon mots at pop culture" shows and I thought "Wow. Still alive apparently."
Then I read this review/attack and thought, "Well, maybe not."
Posted by: John Wildman at January 6, 2009 04:03 PM
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