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Adaptation (2002) Columbia
Pictures, 1 hr. 51 mins.
Starring:
Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Tilda Swinton, Cara Seymour,
Brian Cox, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ron Livingston
Directed by:
Spike Jonze |
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Hands down, Adaptation has to be one
of the most perplexing and perversely funny films of the year. Shrewdly
imaginative and wry, director Spike Jonze’s frenzied narrative is a
joyfully frustrating story that boasts terrifically pronounced
performances put on by an impressive array of astute players. The
collaboration of Jonze’s unorthodox direction and screenwriter Charlie
Kaufman’s script hasn’t been this delightfully solid since their
surrealistic joyride in 1999’s wonderfully erratic comedy Being John
Malkovich. Consequently, it’s always a daunting challenge to see what
emerges from the mind of a talented and off-kilter filmmaker such as
Jonze.
As a subversive feature, Adaptation may not appear as an impeccable
specimen of completeness due to its intentional scattershot direction and
uncertainty but its heart definitely relishes the fascinating observation
about artists and the inherent madness they undergo in bringing their
creativity to the forefront. This is the kind of film that grows on you
every waking moment you try and endure its wacky structure. Refreshingly
unconventional and keenly sharp, Adaptation is clearly a confirming
caustic gem that has an abundance of passion and audacity.
The movie’s plot involves real-life screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (played
in the film by Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage) and his attempt to adapt
real-life author Susan Orlean’s (played in the film by Oscar-winner Meryl
Streep) nonfiction novel “The Orchid Thief” into a viable Hollywood
screenplay. Charlie, in the process of trying to take on this daunting
task, spends countless moments contemplating his effectiveness as a
determined but self-loathing writer. In fact, his neurosis is his own
crutch that he likes to lean on hence welcoming blatant shades of
self-doubt and inner turmoil.
While in the midst of struggling with his demons both personally and
professionally, Charlie has to contend with dealing with his shady twin
brother Donald (also played by Cage) who also has visions of a
screenwriting career. But Donald’s goal includes conjuring up
sensationalistic and junkie Hollywood tripe that undermines Charlie’s
destiny in developing challenging and insightful film projects that are
the complete antithesis of what his sibling Donald envisions ideally as
“fast food” entertainment.
Thus, the film presents an interesting dichotomy because we have two
separate souls whose physical makeup is very much alike but as for their
filmmaking philosophy, it’s so radically different. Charlie, although
conflicted, is very intuitive and soulful in the way he approaches his
artistry as an intense writer who wants to promote sound cinema. This is
all the more reason why his fortitude to bringing the resonance of “The
Orchid Thief” to the big screen is admirable. Yet Donald is less pragmatic
about his cinematic ambitions and wants to live the life of a glorified
Hollywood hack. At this point, maybe the footnote should be included that
Donald isn’t actually a real person in the real life of Charlie Kaufman.
Instead, he’s a mental invention of Charlie…an alter ego designed to
combat the very same fear that haunts the driven Kaufman - the fear of
becoming a sellout commodity in the moviemaking industry.
Adaptation is delightfully delirious when its behind-the-scenes chaotic
scheme creates a crafty and complex stir. The film’s ability to intertwine
its characters (real, fictional, imaginary, literary, etc.) in a cocktail
of a twisted story is a dizzying and devilish undertaking. Set against the
backdrop of the Being John Malkovich production, Adaptation comes into
full fruition. With that being said, the film may come off as convoluted
and congested with its inside references to the Hollywood hemisphere and
all its off-kilter quirks. But that’s what is uniqueness about this film
in the manner in which it skews the moviemaking system and the components
that make up this whole profitable machinery.
There are many elements that make Adaptation so clever and involving. Pick
any number of factors and go from there: the self-deprecating humor (one
might care to observe how many times that Cage’s Charlie Kaufman refers to
himself as fat, bald and ugly), the hilarious one-liners, the characters’
flaunting their flaws in honest and revealing fashion, the interpretation
of presenting one art form (Orlean’s expressive novel) into another (it’s
movie-themed counterpart), etc. The performances are highly spirited and
satirically stinging. Cage has a marvelously naughty turn as the
self-inflicted browbeating screenwriter trying to come to copes with his
integrity in work that he treats with more reverence than he does himself.
And of course his portrayal of the opportunistic cad Donald Kaufman is
equally spry and pleasing. Streep exhibits an adventurous aura as writer
Susan Orlean and her entanglement with John Laroche (Chris Cooper, Lone
Star), the intrusive orchid breeder who’s the inspiration for her
indomitable read that eventually became a national bestseller. Overall,
it’s fascinating to see the one-on-one dynamics that confront each other:
brother vs. brother, savvy author vs. her strong-willed subject matter,
artists vs. their penetrating product - the list goes on and on.
If anything, Adaptation continues to signify the wacky genius of tandem
Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman. The cohesiveness of this film is an
astonishing stunt that captures the wily potency of the screenwriting
craft behind all the mayhem and madcap tendencies. Much like Being John
Malkovich, the Jonze-Kaufman connection taps into a verve that’s so
compelling yet cockeyed. This showcase is happily sardonic and doesn’t
mind reveling in its rickety boundaries. It has a distinctive combination
of being toxic and tender, intelligent yet insane.
Weirdly wound up tight like an expensive watch, Adaptation will be one of
the most enjoyable and puzzling pictures that you’ll ever see that exposes
the Hollywood hoopla from a different perspective. Original and
shamelessly self-absorbed, this is one movie that has a fabulous time
sticking its tongue out at the vulnerability and vitality of the
filmmaking capital of the world known informally as Tinseltown. |
