Summary:

Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (BEING JOHN MALKOVICH) is hired to adapt Susan Orlean’s non-fiction book, THE ORCHID THIEF as a movie. However, after weeks of wrestling with one failed concept after another, it becomes clear to him that he has no clue how to approach the material, until he hits upon an ingenious idea; he writes himself into the script. His main character becomes screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage), who is hired to adapt THE ORCHID THIEF as a movie. However, after weeks of wrestling with one failed concept after another, it becomes clear to him that he has no clue how to approach the material, until...

Steve says:

I’ll just say it. Charlie Kaufman is the most original voice in films today; perhaps even in the history of the medium. His ideas are like no other and really, how many screenwriters can we say that about?

BEING JOHN MALKOVICH dealt with a failed puppeteer discovering a portal into the mind of John Malkovich and selling tickets to people, allowing them to travel into the actor’s head for brief periods. Was there ever a more original idea in films?

Now Kaufman goes himself one better by turning a bad case of writer’s block into a fascinating and engaging film that leaves its audience to wonder just what was real and what wasn’t.

One element that wasn’t was the character of Charlie’s twin brother, Donald Kaufman, who tries to emulate his successful sibling and become a screenwriter himself. I suspect that the real Kaufman invented Donald in order to split himself in two, half being the man who, like most artists, is deeply fearful of being deserted by his talent or being discovered to be totally without talent in the first place. The other half, the Donald half, is a happy-go-lucky doofus who doesn’t allow his complete lack of any artistic vision to get in the way of his desire to write movies. (I will be very anxious to hear the tale of how the Writer’s Guild credits committee allowed the producers to give a fictitious character co-screenwriting credit on this movie).

ADAPTATION is not just about how hard it is to adapt a book into a movie. It stands as a metaphor for the difficulties involved in adapting to every single sling and arrow of outrageous fortune that life hurls our way. The film is a delightful creation that continuously folds back upon itself like a Möbius Strip.

Nicolas Cage gives his best performance to date in the roles of Charlie and Donald, sharply delineating each character and making you completely forget the camera trickery that makes his two performances possible. He’s a shoo-in for another Oscar nomination.

Also headed for similar honors is perennial supporting player Chris Cooper, who should have been nominated for his homicidal, homophobic neighbor in AMERICAN BEAUTY. His portrayal of John Laroche, the lead character from the Orleans book, will ensure that he won’t be forgotten this time.

It’s good to see Meryl Streep on the screen again after a considerable absence. As always, she’s brilliant and remains America’s pre-eminent living actress.

Not enough can be said in praise of Spike Jonze’s direction, which give life and complete believability to Kaufman’s loopy premise. These two should form a writing and directing team, as each complements the talents of the other, resulting in a film that is not to be missed.

Five big butter-soaked kernels for what I believe to be the year’s best movie, ADAPTATION.

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Patty says:

ADAPTATION keeps you wondering just where the portal to Charlie Kaufman’s mind might lead you. He’s either brilliant, demented or both. Whichever, it’s a path less traveled by those who don’t use mushrooms for anything but cooking.

We screened ADAPTATION at a Writer’s Guild event complete with a post-film discussion by Kaufman, Cage, Jonze, Cooper, and a writer from the Los Angeles Times. As I sat through the film, I became aware that the audience, Guild members and their guests, were especially appreciative of the writers’ block theme. Not only can anyone who has ever met a deadline relate, but the film is full of “inside” jokes about agents, writers, actors and other industry hangers-on. The superficial professional relationships that hold film projects together are artfully portrayed. Like swallowed pennies that show up in an x-ray, they’re part of the picture, but they will soon pass without making a significant contribution. In fact, it’s amazing that anything of artistic merit gets accomplished with all those competing egos in need of gratification stumbling all over one another. Kaufman’s honesty in writing about his own numerous and debilitating neuroses not withstanding, he needed two of himself to adequately self-disclose. Welcome to Hollywood.

The interesting theme of the film for me was found in Streep’s character. A brilliant and talented writer, Orlean became obsessed with her own lack of obsession. As she examined the passion for orchids that drove John Laroche to the edge and beyond, she discovered the emptiness of her own life. As one day folded into the next, she began to recognize her loneliness. She compared her life to Laroche’s and found it lacking. A life without passion is as wasted as perfume in a flower shop. She had everything, and she had nothing.

Cage, Streep and Cooper were all on their game. I agree with Steve that it will be hard for another actor to top Cage’s performance in ADAPTATION. The screenwriting was brilliant, the story was hardly predictable and Jonze, again, distinguished himself as a director who can bring a film to life.

I don’t know how it will play in Fargo, but who the hell cares?

Four and a half kernels.

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December 11, 2002