 Manohla Dargis of the "New York Times" said, "To say that [it] is one of the best films of the year or even one closest to my heart is such a pathetic response to its soaring ambition that I might as well pack it in right now ...Despite its slippery way with time and space and narrative and Mr. Kaufman’s controlled grasp of the medium, "Synecdoche, New York" is as much a cry from the heart as it is an assertion of creative consciousness.It’s extravagantly conceptual but also tethered to the here and now."