Balancing out Jay Fernandez's somewhat fanboyish “I'm-not-worthy” non-review of Charlie's Synecdoche, New York script, comes the flipside of the coin: an over-the-top rant from El Mayimbe of Latino Review. He didn't like the script at all. Again, it doesn't really tell us much about the plot. Between those two reviews, you start wishing keyboards came with permits.
I've previously posted reviews of Charlie's scripts before the films came out (btw… why do I not yet have a copy of this script?!), but I've read some stuff lately about the etiquette and morality behind reviewing scripts-in-progress, and it's giving me second thoughts on that kind of thing. God, I must be getting old. Apparently integrity kicks in when you're nearing 30.
On one hand, it's unfair to judge a work that really isn't complete. (And many script reviews seemed designed primarily to say “Hey, check it out, I have an early draft of the script, nyah nyah nyah,” rather than offer a serious, coinsidered, critique.) Synecdoche currently clocks in at 152 pages. We know Charlie isn't afraid of a rewrite, and we can assume that since he's directing this, he's using the screenplay as a blueprint rather than a finished product. So what's being reviewed, exactly? It's a bit like judging a painter's sketch before he's actually applied any paint.
On the other hand… what's the harm? It's a movie script, not a homicide trial. It isn't like sentencing a suspect halfway through the prosecution's opening arguments.
Then we have Charlie, whom we know would like to shoot anyone who leaks out early info about his work. And this is a Kaufman site, so we're antsy about that. BUT… this site is for the fans, not for Charlie, and I try to keep things as objective as possible in this neck o' the woods. BCK isn't about blind adoration, it's about providing information, end of story. It could be argued that script leaks and mixed reviews come with the territory nowadays - like reality TV, it's here and you either ignore it or put up with it… but maybe that's only a convenient argument to get around all this integrity/morality business. And these days I'm super-aware of who's reading this site. It's quite bizarre.
Soooo, what to do? What to do is this: put up links to the script reviews, ramble for a lengthy paragraph about moral dilemmas and homicide trials, and remind everyone that the script is in early form, and to take everything you hear about it with a generous dose of salt.
End of soliloquy.
