Adaptation

[CMJ]

Wierd, quirky, funny...

What an interesting film, but not one for everybody. If you've ever tried to write a screenplay though, this is a MUST see. I laughed really, really hard. The film makes fun of screenwriting conventions...then practices them...all the while following a loose adaption of a book(till the last act), that would be next to impossible to adapt.

Man, Spike Jonze and Charlie Kauffman(the team behind 'Being John Malkovich') are quite a tandem.

[JonathanLB]

I'd love to see it, if it were open here.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Sorry to be a thread dredger but I FINALLY rented and watched Adaptation.

It was...sooo bizarre! It was funny and quirky...very quirky. I've never seen Being John Malkovich, so I have no background in Kauffman/Jonze productions. Was the Orchid Thief a real book then? I couldn't decide, and haven't found out anywhere else.

I've never tried to write a screenplay, much less adapt a book into a screenplay, but the writers block was VERY familiar.

I also liked the play on words, Adaptation applied to the process of adapting the book, and also the characters/orchids adapting to their enviroments.

[ReaperFett]

It is a real book, which Kaufman was trying to adapt. Instead he made a screenplay about him trying to adapt it. Further more Donald, the fictional Kaufman, actually got writing credits, and would have been the first fictional character to co-win an Oscar had it won for Screenplay :)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

That would have been awesome. It was pretty good, just not what I was expecting.

...I don't know *what* I was expecting, but that wasn't it. :D

[Daiquiri Van-Derveld]

I havent seen Adaptation but I have seen Being John Malkovich. wouldnt it be awesome if we could get into other peoples' heads like that? :mischief

(btw, I believe JM is a southern Illinois native. Grew up in a small town about 30 miles from me :))

[CMJ]

Personally I found "Adaptation" better than BJM. Both are really different and unique. I really think both films(especially "Adaptation") are way better the more you discuss them. Everytime I get into conversations about Kauffman/Jonze stuff it makes me realize how much depth it has.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I personally think it sucked how he killed off his imaginary twin just like that. It took me by completely by surprise.

All in all, it was a good portrayal of the stresses of writing a screenplay. I loved the ending. :)

[CMJ]

NOOO, it was great! One of the things that he said he didn't want to do was make a "standard" movie. All of the stuff that happened in the last act was straight cookie cutter Hollywood at it's worst. Basically every plot point that Charlie disected earlier he throws in at the end.

It was brilliant.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

....

ohhhhhhh. :)

*reaches up, turns on lightbulb* I get it now. :D

[CMJ]

Don't worry...I didn't get it at first either.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I'd of watched it again, but the DVD had to go back today. And I don't think my roommate would have liked it at all. But, you never know.

[sirdizzy]

Adaptation (2002)


Drama and Comedy 1 hr. 54 min.
MPAA Rating: R for language, sexuality, nudity, some drug use and violent images
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Tilda Swinton, Cara Seymour
Directed by: Spike Jonze

Charlie Kaufman has made his fortune in Hollywood by writing strange and odd screenplays like Being John Malcovich. He is also an odd individual that many might find crazy as he is constantly arguing with himself over his own ideas and ways to make them possible. Living with him is his twin brother Donald who is the polar opposite of Charlie as he is more outgoing and seems better able to get the woman. Charlie has trouble there as well as he can never seem to say what he means around women and is always at a lost when trying to talk to them. He has created his own fantasy world to make up for these problems though. Charlie has been recruited to write a new screenplay about a book called the Orchid Thief about an oddball character that is a botanist that is trying to steal the most rare of Orchids the Ghost. Susan Orlean is fascinated by him and decides to write a story about him for the New Yorker magazine that is later published into a book. She finds herself drawn into this oddball man who collects things and seems to be able to drop these loves at a hat and find a new love. He is full of new and surprising things and while Susan is entranced by him, Charlie is entranced by Susan and her story of him.

This movie is myopic kaleidoscope of one story after another. It is a movie within a movie in a dazzling way that confounds you, amazes you, and enthralls you. I was absolutely fascinated and drawn in by this story, which at times makes absolutely no sense. At times you think of the tow character that Cage plays as alter egos and at other times as two separate people. And the lines that allow you to discern which is which is almost impossible at times. Charlie is a hopeless individual who is looking for that hope while his brother is the exact opposite, as he seems to have found what he is looking for. Nicolas Cage does a magnificent job of acting, as he is funny, serious, and dramatic all at the same time. He even finds time to make fun of his own advancing age, receding hairline and pudgy appearance. A lot of the scenes will make you laugh out loud at their quirky and weird nature. If the movie is to be faulted it is that at times the story and plot gets so convoluted you are not sure where you are going or coming from. Also the movie can be offensive at times in a funny way and not so funny ways. So if you are a person with sensibilities this may not be the movie for you as at times it can go off on such a tangent to be crude. Still the movie was fascinating and quirky in a way that you so rarely see.
3.5 stars out of 5

[Lilaena De'Ville]

He even finds time to make fun of his own advancing age, receding hairline and pudgy appearance.

Um that's the way he had to look for the character, goofus. :mneh

[Mu Satach]

Originally posted by CMJ
NOOO, it was great! One of the things that he said he didn't want to do was make a "standard" movie. All of the stuff that happened in the last act was straight cookie cutter Hollywood at it's worst. Basically every plot point that Charlie disected earlier he throws in at the end.

It was brilliant.

ditto... I just sat there after it was over and laughed and laughed and laughed...

I want to see 3. ;)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

The 3? :) When the brother was talking about his screenplay I just kept thinking, This sounds a lot like Identity... :uhoh

:D

[Mu Satach]

ditto again...

I was running around on IMDB several months ago and they had Donald Kaufman listed as writing "The 3" and his info was the same as Charlie as though he was a real person. It was funny, but they've corrected it now

as for the Orchid Thief (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/044900371X/susanorleanco-20/102-2604322-4801730) you can get it from Amazon.com

and the real Susan Orlean (http://www.susanorlean.com/) has her own website about herself and other books etc.

[Sage Hazzard]

That movie was freaking genuis! Just saw it for the second time. I, personally, have been writing a screenplay and that's my profession of choice/want/dream. It was wonderful. I don't know if we should... yeah I'll use spoilers, can only help not hurt.

Notice at the beginning, with the producer, he talks about all the things he DOESN'T want. Can't remember everything but it was like "Gun fights, car chases, cramming it with sex, the characters struggle and come together at the end, the characters have revelations about themselves, and drug use." He specifically said he didn't want them to break down the orchid into drugs and it become a drug running movie. That's what happened! :lol I'll try and break down the cliches at the end...

Susan does drugs, has sex, the guy with no teeth shows his naked butt atleast two times, the guy is caught watching them and they decide he has to die, there's a chase in the swamps, while hiding out the twins grow and come closer together, they speed out in the car, Donald dies and Charlie does the whole "stay awake donald, open your eyes!", then he sings that Happy Together song(lol), then there's another chase in the swamp, that dude(I've seen it twice and can't remember his name, oy) says "I'm not a killer" and cries as he points his gun, then Susan cries over him and goes into a weird rant about wanting to be "new"(pretty cheesy, cliche), then Charlie cries over the phone to mom(who you only hear, see, etc. of now at the end), Charlie has "grown" and professes his love to Amelia, Amelia loves him back even though she pretty much dumped him and it's hard to believe she'd ever even like him(it's a quickie love, like in bad action movies).

Also, did you notice that screen writing dude talked about Dues Ex Machina. Which, translated (and correct me if I'm wrong) means: God from the Machine. It started back when they wrong plays in old Greece, and when they couldn't figure out how to get out of a bad situation, they'd bring the Gods in to make it all better and tidy everything up. And guess what? The dude was stopped from killing Charlie by an Alligator! That's total Dues Ex Machina! :lol



That was a great film. Like what CMJ said in the first post, it's even better if you've ever tried to write a screenplay, or even read a book about how to write one. :lol

[TCM'74]

*bump*

The latest on The 3 is it no longer projected on the horizon. Any news about it has completely vanished from IMDB's data but what is acknowledged on the site now is that the team of Spike Jonze/Charlie Kaufman are joining together again to create a horror film for Columbia. As of yet it remains untitled and there is no news about it's premise, only that the film is due out 2005 according to IMDB. Here is the link (http://www.filmstew.com/Content/DailyNews/Details.asp?ContentID=6932&Pg=1) discovered posted on the October 4th update at BeingCharlieKaufman.com (http://www.beingcharliekaufman.com) What a curious development, unseemly actually.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I don't understand how this is unseemly..?

also <a href=http://www.beingcharliekaufman.com/index.htm?top.htm&0>Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind</a> looks awesome. :D

[CMJ]

It's also being buzzed for Oscar...NEXT year. ;)

[TCM'74]

Originally posted by Lilaena De'Ville
I don't understand how this is unseemly..?

also <a href=http://www.beingcharliekaufman.com/index.htm?top.htm&0>Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind</a> looks awesome. :D

I say unseemly because of their previous works, this is an absolute change in direction. Not stating the idea is a bad development. I love that they are visiting this genre. But what kind of horror would be dreamt up by the minds of Jonze and particularly Kaufman, for better or worse. I will be keeping my eyes peeled for any more developments.

And yeah, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind looks to be worth anticipating. Love the title BTW.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

CMJ you Oscar whore ;)