Adaptation.

Spike Jonze - Director
Susan Orlean - Author
Charlie Kaufman - Screenwriter

Nicolas Cage - Charlie Kaufman/Donald Kaufman
Meryl Streep - Susan Orlean
Chris Cooper * - John LaRoche
Cara Seymour - Amelia Kavan
Brian Cox - Robert McKee
Tilda Swinton - Valerie Thomas
Ron Livingston - Marty Bowen
Maggie Gyllenhaal - Caroline Cunningham
* Academy Award Winner - Best Supporting Actor for Adaptation

Nicolas Cage is terrific as twins Charlie and Donald Kaufman

Adaptation gives us two entertaining tales to follow: the story and the storyteller each get equal attention in this wonderful, unique film. If this sounds strange, that's because it is. Adaptation is the story of Charlie Kaufman, who has been charged with adapting The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean into a movie. He very much wants to stay true to his source material and not make a typical hollywood movie. He doesn't want car chases or sex scenes or people overcoming obstacles to learn a profound lesson in the end because that isn't how life is. "Can't a movie just be about flowers and how amazing they are?" he asks his agent. "....Are they?"is the response. Kaufman looks thoughtful for a moment. "I don't know. I think so."

Charlie is finding his source material difficult to translate into film format. His twin brother Donald takes up screenwriting as hobby and, much to Charlie's horror, finds success in writing a formulaic murder mystery chock full of hollywood cliche. Donald (who may or may not exist) is Charlie's polar opposite; He's outgoing, simple, happy, he has fun writing and he can meet and mingle with women effortlessly. Donald has the mentality of a puppy dog towards his brother Charlie, who is frustrated by the ease with which Donald lives his life. Life is anything but easy for Charlie. Writing is an exercise in torture as it is for many people. Living, for Charlie Kaufman, is also much the same. His persistent self criticism (I'm sweating. Stop sweating! Oh god, she just looked at my hairline. You brought her here and now you're just sitting there. Say something funny, you idiot!) makes it impossible for him to meet and talk to women. One almost has to wonder what he's afraid of. Any criticism or rejection could hardly be worse than the self inflicted emotion stress he lives with.

John Laroche searches for the elusive ghost orchid

The other half of the story deals with Kaufman's screenplay, The Orchid Thief. It tells of John Laroche, who has liberated the rare ghost orchid from the Takahatchee State Preserve in Florida. Laroche is a fascinating character. He is a greasy, dishevelled man who is missing his top front teeth. He is an intelligent, crude man with a confidence that borders on arrogance. Orchids, Orlean learns, are not his first obsession. He has had similar serious hobbies that he has embraced and then discarded, like a bee going from flower to flower. Susan Orlean wrote a book about Laroche and his obsession with the rare flower. Orlean, a dispassionate, esteemed New York author is fascinated by the fervor with which Laroche lives his life.

Charlie becomes increasingly neurotic as his deadline for the screenplay draws near. He comes to believe that the only thing he's an expert on, the only thing he's qualified to write about is his own fear and self-loathing. Eventually he writes himself into his own screenplay. Still not satisfied, he (in an act of desperation) asks his brother Donald to take a look at it for him and to help him finish it. The story takes a rather abrupt and fascinating turn before the end.

This photo of Charlie and Susan Orlean sums up Charlie's relationship with most women.

The first films I saw Nicolas Cage in were Con Air and The Rock. I originally thought of Cage as an action guy and disregarded him as such. After seeing him in Adaptation and Matchstick Men I have gained a newfound respect for the man's work. He is remarkable in the dual role of Charlie and Donald Kaufman. Chris Cooper (nearly unrecognizable here) is equally brilliant in the role of Laroche, the charismatic, toothless redneck. Meryl Streep was also nominated for an Oscar for her performance as Susan Orlean, a woman who writes about life and passion but seems afraid to live. Adaptation is brilliant and original. I wholly reccomend this film to anyone who wants to experience something brilliant and unique. Everyone except for Jimbob should see it.

Adaptation earns 4 wombats out of 4