2003-04-27

Last night, we saw Adaptation again. (The G-man and I had already seen it over Christmas break when we went down to Vancouver.) It was the final film of the college film series for this semester, and I think it was a great one to end up on. This is the first film I've seen Nicolas Cage in since Raising Arizona that made me think, "That man is a great comic actor." Usually, he's too busy marrying and divorcing Lisa Marie Presley to wow me with his comedic powers, but I really enjoyed him in this film.

Adaptation is a meta-clever little film. Its screenplay was written by Charlie Kaufman, the writer behind Being John Malkovich. In fact, this movie opens with what looks like documentary footage (it isn't) of the filming of Being John Malkovich. Director Spike Lee convinced John Malkovich, Catherine Keener, and John Cusack to come back and play themselves for these scenes, which only furthers the movie's impressive blurring of the lines between fact and fiction.

In Adaptation, we see part of the real-life struggle that Kaufman had in adapting Susan Orlean's novel The Orchid Thief to a screenplay format. This movie is essentially about the writing process, writer's block, and insecurity and self-loathing. I know, it sounds like a ton of fun. However, because Charlie Kaufman (the writer) is a clever person, what he has done in this movie is write about Charlie Kaufman (the character) having trouble writing the screenplay. His solution? To write about himself having trouble with his screenplay. It's like what happens when you hold up a mirror to another mirror and all of a sudden you've got hundreds of images, each smaller than the other, reflecting into infinity.

A lot of this movie is autobiographical--Charlie Kaufman really is a screenwriter, he really was asked to write the screenplay for The Orchid Thief, and he really did have trouble doing it--but there are also some fictional embellishments thrown in for good measure. One of the most wonderful of these fictional embellishments is the character of Charlie's twin brother, Donald. Donald, at the beginning of the film, is unemployed and staying with Charlie until he "gets on his feet". He decides one day to solve his financial problems by becoming a screenwriter, just like his brother. Donald, who is the exact opposite of broody, insecure, tormented Charlie, launches himself breezily into the task of writing a best-selling screenplay. He attends a screenwriting seminar and comes home full of tips for Charlie, who is still struggling with The Orchid Thief and avoiding his agent, who would like to see some evidence of progress. Donald's screenplay is a hilarious, loopy take on the type of bad Hollywood thriller that involves serial killers and multiple personalities.

There are many different reasons to enjoy Adaptation. One is the great acting--everyone in here is top-notch, not least of all Nicolas Cage. Meryl Streep, as the author Susan Orlean, is superb, as is Chris Cooper, who plays John Laroche, the orchid thief of the book's title. (When I first saw the film I did not recognize Cooper as the crazy military neighbour from American Beauty. I'm desperately curious to know how the makeup crew of Adaptation made Chris Cooper look like he's missing all his front teeth!) Another reason the film is so good is Kaufman's witty, meta, self-referential screenplay, which mocks and makes use of Hollywood conventions in equal amounts. For all the movie's clever comments on cinematic structure and form, it also has something of substance to say about the process of writing, in ways that will be familiar to anyone who's undertaken a large writing project. It's hard not to laugh in recognition and wince in sympathy while Kaufman is wrestling mightily with the writer's twin nemeses, procrastination and writer's block. Finally, Spike Jones' direction deserves recognition--his recognizably quirky, yet accessible style permeates the movie and allows it to be clever but good-natured, rather than mean-spirited, as it pokes fun at many people, real and imaginary.

All in all, Adaptation is a great film which makes a fuller use of wit and characterization than many other films I've seen this year. I thoroughly enjoyed it both times I watched it, and in fact, it has made me want to dig up The Orchid Thief and give it a read. I wonder what the real Susan Orlean thinks of all this? (warning: spoilers)

Posted by polarcanuck at 3:30 p.m.

Add a comment (0 comments so far)