Day 62: Adaptation (2002)

Adaptation
Director: Spike Jonze
Starring: Nicholas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper

Wikipedia defines "meta" as a prefix used in English to indicate a concept which is an abstraction from another concept, used to complete or add to the latter. This is a confusing definition, but this is also a sort of confusing (and very meta) movie. Charlie Kaufman wrote a screenplay about Charlie Kaufman writing a screenplay. Bam.

The film is about screenwriter Charlie Kaufman writing his follow-up to the cult film Being John Malkovich. Wanting to challenge himself to do something new and different, he decides to write an adaptation of an unadaptatble (and real) book about a man who steals rare orchids. His (fictional) twin brother is also trying to write a much more cliche script.

The movie is really wild. Kaufman is the master of surreal plots that blue the lines between reality and fantasy. This was no exception. I said in my review for Synecdoche NY that he seems to need a talented director to help with pacing and coherence to reign things in. Here Kaufman works with Jonze for the second time and we see a very abstract script turned into a comprehendable film. Bravo.

The cast is very good (probably the best Cage performance I've seen besides Raising Arizona). Chris Cooper was my favorite here as the eccentric orchid theif. He was frighteningly similar, though, to my old landlord. Bit parts are great to watch because they are played by a rediculously talented ensemble (Judy Greer, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Brian Cox, Ron Livingston, Tilda Swinton).

The fun part of this film is the way the film style is dictated by the screenplay. Charlie and his brother talk endlessly about how films should be made, what cliches to avoid, and what audiences want. The film references so many of the mentioned stylistic choices in actual form. It was really fun to watch (and hard to explain).

In the film, Charlie was trying to write a screenplay that taught lessons about life, love, and flowers. I think the real Charlie ended up doing a decent job at this.

Lesson learned: Look both ways when backing out of your driveway.