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'Adaptation' difficult to describe, adapt
By John Behling
Published:
Thursday, January 30, 2003
John Behling -- Film Critic
Adaptation?" This question appears in the film's trailer, and remains equally puzzling even after its viewing.
Is it a film about the process of adaptation? Is it an autobiographical look into the head of a screenwriter (ironically written by the man who literally took a look inside John Malkovich's head in "Being John Malkovich")? Is it a movie about orchids? Or a movie about the relationship between an orchid thief and a writer from the New Yorker?
An even better question is, if the screenplay for "Adaptation" is an adaptation, then what exactly is it an adaptation of? Is it an adaptation of "The Orchid Thief" by Susan Orlean? Is it the adaptation of Charlie Kaufman's life? Is it really an adaptation at all?
The film starts with Charlie Kaufman, played by a fattened, balding, sweaty Nicholas Cage meeting with a producer about adapting a novel for the screen. After the first 10 minutes you may wonder if the film is only about Kaufman, as he walks us through his obsessed, painfully self-conscious, pathetic life. Kaufman's task is to adapt "The Orchid Thief", by Susan Orlean, the story of John Laroche, a truly bizarre individual with an obsession for orchids and who makes a living stealing them from Florida nature reserves.
The problem is, Kaufman has no idea where to start, and as the film progresses it seems more and more apparent that Kaufman may never figure out just how to adapt "The Orchid Thief."
It's the ultimate story of writer's block, combined with the story of a man obsessed with originality. Kaufman struggles so hard with his own high standards, his contempt for doing things the typical Hollywood way and the seemingly unadaptable subject matter that he ends up writing himself into his own screenplay. This happens in a hilarious scene where Kaufman makes this realization while speaking into a tape recorder, "Oh my God. I've written myself into my own script."
To take it all in one sitting it requires an active mind. Kaufman weaves his life with the events described in the book, with the lives of Laroche (played amazingly by Chris Cooper) and Orlean (played by Meryl Streep) outside of the book.
Oh and right, Kaufman has an identical twin brother who is also a screenwriter. Can the average audience member keep track of all of this? I think so.
Besides the appearance of chaos and this film's tendency to unleash it, there is an underlying structure at work. The plot is deceptively clear and juggles cleverly its different points of view, locations and time periods. It has the tendency to swell to the point where it seems overwhelming, but never really goes overboard.
Director Spike Jonze steps up to the challenge of keeping the story straight and the film on track with a style that doesn't take any attention away from the plot. Actors Cage, Streep and Cooper embrace the challenge of competing for screen time, while portraying full and interesting characters. Nicholas Cage plays a double role, creating the bipolar ends of the Kaufman brothers and many times bouncing jokes off of himself. Cage plays Kaufman with neurotic intensity, easily making us forget the scope of the film and feel the writers painful deliberation over every minor detail.
Chris Cooper achieves the difficult task of texturing the toothless redneck Laroche as the intelligent complicated character that he is.
This leaves Meryl Streep, who puts on a great performance as the neat, sophisticated and accomplished Orlean trying to understand Cooper's obsession with orchids.
Seldom is there room in a film for three star performances. "Adaptation" pulls this feat off without stumbling, as its plot unfolds at an unpredictable rate.
And I don't say that lightly. "Adaptation" truly is a film where the audience has no idea what will happen next, and this beautifully reflects the plight of Kaufman, who doesn't know where his story would go next. This culminates with an ending that has been dividing viewers and raising a lot of questions among critics. Is it a cop-out? It is simple disintegration? Is it genius?
I personally thought it to be more in the category of genius, but ending aside, "Adaptation" is one truly remarkable piece of work, proving again that screenwriter Charlie Kaufman can tackle seemingly monumental tasks in ways that don't even seem possible at first glance.
(Hint: if there's anyone reading this who hasn't seen "Being John Malkovich" go rent it now and you'll see what I mean.")
