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MINI MOVIE REVIEW:
"Adaptation" is an imaginative satire that skates well over the edge into hyperbole more often than not, resulting
in far too much of this movie being simply unbelievable. While some will find this to be a very funny cinematic thrill ride,
others will be largely annoyed by it all.
Nicholas Cage plays the dual roles of twin brothers, Charlie and Donald Kaufman. Charlie is an accomplished screenwriter
who suffers from writer's block while Donald is a cheerfully nouveau, by the numbers writer fresh out of a writing seminar.
He is enthusiastically punching out a schlock project that is sure to sell for big bucks in low brow Hollywood.
Much of the considerable acting talent in this movie is wasted other than that of Nicholas Cage and Chris Cooper, who
are both commendable in their efforts. Meryl Streep, Tilda Swinton, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Cara Seymour, and Robert McKee fill
out the bill. McKee is wonderful as a stem winding lecturer and salesman for his how to writing course.
Donald convinces his brother that in order to complete his screenplay further research is needed into the author of the
book, Susan Orlean, who lives in New York City. Shortly thereafter they end up along with the orchid thief, John Laroche,
deep in the swamps of Florida fighting off hungry alligators and drug crazed lovers.
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FILM CRITIQUE:
For the record, I loved "Being John Malkovich"(1999), Spike Jonze's last collaborative effort with screenwriter
Charlie Kaufman.
Unfortunately, "Adaptation," did not work as well for me in spite of the fact that most film critics have adored
this movie and have praised to the skies the tour de force acting job of Nicholas Cage. Perhaps this praise is due to Cage's
over the top performance as a screenwriter tortured by a case of writer's block so severe that he cannot even organize his
thoughts for the first sentence to his screenplay.
I suppose every professional writer fears writer's block about as much as ordinary men fear impotence, for that's what
it is: literary impotence. Even I approach this particular review with a certain degree of trepidation approaching writers
block. I know what to say when I hate a movie and I know what to say when I love a movie. However, I am a loss as to what
to say when I am neutral about a movie. Some aspects of "Adaptation" are brilliant, while others have left me cold.
It all boils down to a lack of passion about a movie that leaves me asking myself as I walked out of the theater, "Now,
what was that all about?"
This is not that I don't understand the movie, but rather that I question the premise of the movie, the validity of this
movie. Well, for that matter, I am not alone as this movie itself questions its own validity.
"Adaptation" is schizophrenic in that it argues against itself with the final third of this movie turning the
cerebral, analytical first two thirds of the movie on its head as it then suddenly degrades into a typical Hollywood, mindless
dope 'em up, sex 'em up, shoot & 'em up, crash 'em up, and chew 'em up free for all deep in the Florida swamps with even
the alligators grabbing their fair share of the American dream.
Now, this will strike some as very funny stuff and others more like myself as a rather pointless exercise in cinematic
absurdity somewhat similar to discussing how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.
Sometimes it is impossible not to believe that Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman are having fun with us, that they are pulling
our leg and having a great laugh while doing it. Much of this movie is simply unbelievable, and by the end of it I was largely
missing out on all of it.
The role of the actors in this movie also leave something to be desired as some of them are wildly overwrought, such as
are Cage's Charlie Kaufman and Streep's Susan Orlean. On the other hand, others are disappointing in their underdevelopment,
such as Swinton's Valerie and Judy Greer's role as Alice, the waitress.
Nicholas Cage as the neurotic wretch of a man who is suffering from a severe case of writer's block is somewhat comical
as a Hollywood version of Woody Allen with all his neuroses. Unfortunately, it is my personal opinion that this is also a
lot funnier when Woody Allen does it. In short, Nicholas Cage as screenwriter Charlie Kaufman is more of an annoying schmuck
than the lovable schlemiel that Woody Allen has played in many of his movies.
I also have mixed feelings about Meryl Streep as the writer, Susan Orlean. Streep is so good and she has such an interesting
screen presence that I feel that she is somewhat wasted in this secondary role that looks like it might have been a hoot to
shoot, but does little to challenge her considerable acting talents.
And speaking of wasted, the great actress, Tilda Swinton, last seen a year ago in "The Deep End," has merely
a phone in role as Valerie, a studio executive and part time baby sitter for wheedling a way past deadline script out of screenwriter
Charlie Kaufman.
These two women are largely peripheral characters in this movie as Cara Seymour plays the romantic role of Amelia, Charlie's
hoped for girlfriend, and Maggie Gyllenhaal serves in that same capacity as Caroline, his twin brother Donald's love interest.
I would have hoped for much larger roles for Streep and Swinton, as both these women are very accomplished actresses as well
as being wonderful screen presences.
Finally, special mention must be made of Chris Cooper, who gives life and verve and originality to his role as John Laroche,
a toothless, backwoods red neck who steals prized orchids from the protected Florida State Park swamps. That his role is one
of considerable intelligence along with more than a dash of sex appeal is pleasantly surprising given much of the animus in
Hollywood towards "poor white trash" and the generally cheap shot cinematic typecasting of this class of people
(re: "About Schmidt").
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WRITER, SCREENWRITER, AND DIRECTOR SIDEBAR NOTES:
It can't go without mention that the threesome involved in the creation of this movie have been more than prolific with
their involvement in multiple movies released during this year alone.
Spike Jonze also appears as a character in "Jackass: The Movie"(2002), as well as being a screenwriter for that
movie. This cinematic effort of his somewhat diminishes his appeal for me.
Charlie Kaufman is also a screenwriter for Chuck Barris' (of television's deeply lamented "The Gong Show" fame)
highly fictionalized biography, "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind"(2002), a movie directed by George Clooney and
recently released.
And Susan Orlean also wrote the story and the movie script for "Blue Crush"(2002), the Hawaiian surfer girl
movie that came out last summer.
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MOVIE SYNOPSIS:
Spike Jonze starts "Adaptation" off with a behind the scenes look at "Being John Malkovich." Still
on the set, screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Nicholas Cage) frets over his next assignment, which is to write the script for
a movie adapted from Susan Orlean's book, "The Orchid Thief."
Charlie lives in a bachelor's pad with his unemployed brother, Donald (also Nicholas Cage), who is as glib and friendly
an extrovert as his brother is a shy introvert. Visiting Charlie on the set of the just finishing "Being John Malkovich,"
Donald is thunderstruck by the glamour of it all.
With his easy charm and infectious enthusiasm, he soon winds up romancing one of the movie's set designers, Caroline (Maggie
Gyllenhaal), at a cast party.
Charlie is as troubled and as blocked in his romantic life as he is currently in his professional life. His girlfriend
du jour is Amelia (Cara Seymour), who clearly cares for him and would love to have a relationship with him if only Charlie
would work up the courage to come upstairs to her apartment. Even a passionate kiss would be a nice start. Filled with self
doubt and excuses, he fails to pick up on any of her less than subtle invitations. In frustration, she tells the downcast
Charlie that she has "plans" for the following weekend.
Donald decides on a whim to become a screenwriter like his brother and he then takes a quickie seminar in writing given
by Brian Cox (Robert McKee), a famous lecturer and promoter. Filled with the enthusiasm of the newly converted, Donald decides
to write a commercial science fiction movie script filled with lots of blood and gore.
Charlie watches in hellish envy as his talentless brother squeezes out a script like toothpaste from a tube. Charlie is
a wretch of a man in the throes of middle age as he is overweight and balding. Worst of all, he sweats profusely when he is
nervous or around women. Filled with self doubt and personal loathing, Charlie is the very antithesis of his easy going twin
brother.
Charlie corrects his neophyte brother with little put downs and writing suggestions, but Donald finishes his script in
what seems to Charlie to be in record time. To add further insult to injury, he then is forced to eat humble pie when Donald
quickly sells his just completed script to Charlie's own agent for close to a million dollars.
Charlie still hasn't finished that first line in his orchid script in spite of his promises to the contrary to Valerie
(Tilda Swinton), his studio executive boss and official hand holder to the nerve wracked screenwriter. He decides to go to
a Sacramento orchid convention to see if he can pick up some color and atmosphere for his script. On the way, he again fails
to pick up a girl, this time Alice (Judy Greer), a waitress in a diner.
At the convention Charlie realizes that as beautiful as orchids are, he can't write a movie about them. Movies are about
people, and he feels that he doesn't know any of the characters from the Orlean book. His final, desperate solution to writing
this script is the preposterous idea of inserting himself into his own story. This is in spite of the fact that he has never
met the author or been to the Florida swamps and he knows next to nothing about orchids.
Flush with his own success, Donald now advises his brother to go to New York to do some research on the book's author,
Susan Orlean (Meryl Streep) and maybe also attend a seminar by Brian Cox. While there, the much more adventurous Donald convinces
his brother to spy surreptitiously into Susan Orlean's apartment from a building across the street.
The two brothers are astounded to see her making flight reservations at her computer, all the while with tears streaming
down her face. Their curiosity grows by leaps and bounds when Susan wipes her tears dry and hides the flight reservation data
from her husband when he enters her home office.
Something is not right with this woman who is supposed to be happily married. And shortly after her husband leaves she
will pull something out of her desk drawer that will surprise them even more.
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