Rara Reviews: Adaptation (2002)

(Note: This is another assignment from my Movies as Narratives class. The review was intended as a piece for a scholarly journal, based on our major. I chose Adaptation because Charlie Kaufman is one of my favorite screenwriters and a constant source of inspiration for neurotic folk like me who just want to get our shit together.)

     The irony of writing about Spike Jonze’s magnificent film Adaptation is that much like the main character - screenwriter Charlie Kaufman - we find ourselves struggling to concentrate on just one aspect of the enigmatic source material. Adaptation is Kaufman’s third screenplay and it is perhaps his most ambitious, employing tried and true cinematic elements and plot devices through the filter of Kaufman’s cerebral vision to create one of the most original movie-going experiences in recent years.

     The story is based on Susan Orlean’s The Orchid Thief, which chronicles her time in Florida with the eccentric orchid hunter John Laroche. However, Adaptation focuses more on Kaufman’s experience of turning Orlean’s book into a screenplay, switching between his struggle in the present day and that of Orlean (Meryl Streep) and Laroche (Chris Cooper) during the writing of The Orchid Thief. He adds fictional elements about Orlean and Laroche that abruptly switches the gears of the intended genre, creating that unmistakably surreal voice that Kaufman is best known for, and elevating it to virtuosity.

     Charlie Kaufman is a middle-aged screenwriter who has carved a career out of his ingenious scripts, yet his neurotic, obsessive thinking cripples him in his personal life. Nicolas Cage portrays both pessimistic Charlie and his clueless twin brother, Donald (who Kaufman jokingly credits as co-writer). The two performances are so convincing that we forget Cage is reacting to himself . One of the best examples of this is the scene in which Donald pitches the plot of his first script (a painfully predictable crime thriller) to an exasperated Charlie, who is torturing himself over the minute details of his own magnum opus. 
     Meryl Streep avoids the hoity toity glamour of the typical New York writer and gracefully conveys Orlean’s intelligence and sadness, almost as painfully aware of her tragic posturing as the audience is. Chris Cooper is casually magnetic as Laroche, whose toothless grin is so disarmingly charming that we mentally assign the underdog hero status to him almost automatically.

     This is perhaps the most accurate portrayal of the creative process of any writer. Kaufman (the character)  is not rich or glamorous or even very popular. In fact, he is not any more successful than the characters he writes about. Kaufman deconstructs three major archetypes of writers throughout the film: the respected big-city journalist, the optimistic and artless novice, and the experienced yet tortured veteran. Adaptation is a must-see not only for experienced writers, but those who aspire to hone their craft with authenticity. It is a brilliant portrait of the nature of artists and their struggle to bring their visions to life. As Donald Kaufman muses in one of the most surprisingly cathartic scenes, “You are what you love, not who loves you”.