Adaptation. (2002)

As Good As It Gets

An Exercise In Nonsense

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

This is a minimalistic review and the title explains how i feel about the movie. I'll add that the way 'depression' is brought to light in this flick is genius, and we get a quirky but realistic view of what goes on in a negative persons head. That's how i feel, or felt. Thanks for reading.

I hate when reviewers post a review of a movie they didn't even finish watching. The thing is...I turned this thing off...literally...before Cage finished his opening mind twisting monologue! There's a saying in evolution: adapt, or die. I'd rather die than watch this ridiculous movie.

Adaptation's plot revolves around a script-writer, Charlie Kaufman, and his brother, Donald Kaufman, and how Charlie Kaufman attempts to bring a non-fiction book about flowers called THE ORCHID THIEF into a film script to be adapted into a movie, which serves the purpose of the title of the film. Stress comes with Charlie's process of creating the script and meanwhile Donald Kaufman achieves success with his script, The 3, stirring up disgusted envy for the character Charlie Kaufman and adding to his continuous stress. Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman are both played by Nicholas Cage and each have funny, unique and likable personalities with Donald Kaufman being the naive "stupid brother" comic relief and Charlie Kaufman being the intelligent, experienced serious man. They both contain great chemistry on the screen considering the fact that it's played by one person only and revolve importantly in the storyline of the film while also being entertaining in their roles, and it's a pure joy to watch the two characters interact and react to the situations in the movie. Adaptation is an excellent film however mainly because it serves the purpose of feeling like a dream by feeling strangely surreal and perfectly normal at the same time, but it also raises a lot of thought-provoking questions about the topic it is on: movie scripts. Adaptation incredibly breaks the normal structure of a movie by rearranging, replacing and even removing, and sets out to do feats that no other movie would dare to do and you may find yourself wondering if the normal film structure is as good as everyone says. The film remains in a strange taste, uses voice-over narration to explain the characters and uses no ordinary structure, yet we are fascinated and entranced by the magically dream-like atmosphere of the captivating film but also being self- aware of it's actions by expressing it in an intentionally destroyed manner. When you watch this movie, I think you'll get feelings that you never thought were there.

Building on the success of 1999's "Being John Malkovich", Charlie Kaufman & Spike Jonze re-teamed for 2002's "Adaptation", which turned out to be another distinctive offering. The semi-autobiographical story focuses on screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage), who is struggling to complete an adaptation of a book about orchid poaching.Not exactly the most intriguing premise, I know, but the real Kaufman's Oscar-nominated screenplay is far from your average Hollywood concoction. The character's problems with adapting an essentially plot-less book merely supply the foundation for explorations on the creative process & human passion. Even though the movie skewers Hollywood artifice it cleverly makes use of formulaic tropes in a new and interesting way. Taking such mundane material and making it both thought-provoking & entertaining was no small feat.The cast seems to have been well-suited to the material. Nicolas Cage did double duty as Charlie Kaufman and his identical brother Donald. Cage performances can definitely be erratic but this one (which was Oscar-nominated) has to be considered one of his best. Do I even need to comment on twenty time Oscar nominee Meryl Streep's performance? It's good, of course (not to mention the source of one of her Oscar nominations). However, it was Chris Cooper who stole the show with his note-perfect portrayal of rustic orchid thief John Laroche. His Oscar was well deserved.The direction by Spike Jonze may not have been Oscar-nominated but it certainly could have been, if for no other reason than the performances that he coaxed from his three main actors. Of course, as seen with "Being John Malkovich" and subsequent films, Jonze also knows a thing or two about crafting striking visuals. This film is no exception. From a music standpoint, there isn't much that sticks in my memory apart from an effective use of the Turtles' classic "Happy Together".All in all, "Adaptation" offers a refreshing combination of art and entertainment. The talent both behind and in front of the camera all put their best foot forward in bringing this unique story to the screen. Fans of Kaufman & Jonze are certain to enjoy this even though others may be put off by some of the film's idiosyncrasies.