Adaptation. (***1/2)
review by Jon Waterman

Charlie Kaufman has a severe case of writer’s block. His agent is breathing down his neck looking for pages on the new script he’s working on. The problem is that Charlie hasn’t written anything, because he doesn’t know how to adapt a non-fiction work that someone else created to the screen while still keeping the integrity of the original text intact. The book is The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean. How is Charlie supposed to make a screenplay about a flower? How can he make it good?

Charlie has a breakthrough (much later in the film, but evident to the audience relatively early on). He’ll write the script about his inability to write the script. He’ll parallel Susan’s search for this unattainable flower and her desire to have a passion for something with his quest to write the unattainable script and his desire to have a decent night of sleep. What results is a fabulous mocking of the writing process, of the Hollywood system, and of the movie everyone is watching.

The script is written by the real life Charlie Kaufman. Yes, that’s right, he wrote himself into his script. It’s a gutsy move that teeters between brilliance and self-indulgent pretension. I believe the film has more weight on the former. The last act alone shows the genius Kaufman employs with his multi-layered technique. Everything said and done has several interpretations and layers of depth. Director Spike Jonze plays off of Kaufman’s nearly depressive attitude with occasional hyper active bursts of thought and energy to create an interestingly jumpy structure.

But, Charlie’s not playing himself. No, that job belongs to Nicholas Cage, who also plays his twin brother Donald. Donald is also a screenwriter currently working on a psychological thriller about a serial killer. Charlie and Donald may look alike, but their personalities could not be more different. It is for this reason that Cage knocks both of these characters dead. I never felt like I was seeing double. Cage played the differences in the roles so well, that I pretty much forgot it was one person. Even when the two weren’t yet established in a scene, I could tell which was which based on Cages body language. Meryl Streep is always fantastic and this outing (as Susan) is no exception. Possibly my favorite actor, though is Ron Livingston. I bet you thought I was going to saw Chris Cooper (as John LaRoche, the subject of Susan’s book). Nope. He didn’t impress me that much. Livingston however got the most laughs per minute. He played the clueless “no-pressure” Hollywood agent full of fake concern for his talent. Hilarious.

This film may take a lot of flack for its randomness and sudden switch in the third act. Most of mainstream America will not enjoy this film. If you enjoyed “Being John Malkovich” (the other Spike Jonze/Charlie Kaufman collaboration), then you have a much better shot at liking this one, too. If you didn’t, then see something else. I wouldn’t mind seeing it again, though.

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