Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
Charlie Kaufman is a confused L.A. screenwriter overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy, sexual frustration, self-loathing, and by the screenwriting ambitions of his freeloading twin brother Donald. While struggling to adapt "The Orchid Thief," by Susan Orlean, Kaufman's life spins from pathetic to bizarre. The lives of Kaufman and Orlean's book become strangely intertwined as each one's search for passion collides with the other's.
Adaptation is a supremely self-referential, meta-cinematic marvel — Charlie Kaufman writing himself into the script as a character struggling to adapt an unadaptable book is one of cinema's most audacious conceits. The plot is genuinely labyrinthine and intellectually rich, folding real and fictional layers on top of each other with uncommon skill. Nicolas Cage delivers a dual performance of remarkable range and vulnerability, and Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper (Oscar-winning) are equally exceptional. Novelty earns a 4 without question — this film is utterly singular in conception and execution. Cinematography by Kaminski is competent and purposeful but not especially distinguished. The ending, which deliberately indulges the genre clichés the film had been deconstructing, is intentionally ironic but somewhat divisive — brilliant as meta-commentary yet narratively unsatisfying for some, keeping it at a 3.