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Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Brian Cox, Tilda Swinton ... see more see more... , Cara Seymour , Judy Greer , Maggie Gyllenhaal , Ron Livingston , Jay Tavare , Stephen Tobolowsky , Peter Jason , Curtis Hanson , Catherine Keener , John Malkovich , Lance Acord , Rheagan Wallace , Jim Beaver

The creative team behind Being John Malkovich -- director Spike Jonze and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman -- return with this equally offbeat comedy, in which Kaufman himself becomes the leading characte... read more read more...r. Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) is a gifted but profoundly neurotic screenwriter who, after the success of Being John Malkovich, has been hired to write a script adapted from the nonfiction book The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean. But while Charlie is obsessive about his work, he's also intensely paranoid, given to deep depression, socially inept, and terrified of talking to women, qualities which are making it difficult to get on with his work or hold on to his tenuous relationship with girlfriend Amelia (Cara Seymour). Meanwhile, Charlie's identical twin brother, Donald Kaufman (also played by Cage), has shown up to move in with his brother. Emotionally, Donald is Charlie's polar opposite -- a loudmouthed, over-confident, superficial party animal who has an easy way with the ladies. Donald has decided to follow his brother's footsteps and take up screenwriting as well, but embracing the dictates of screenwriting tutor Robert McKee (Brian Cox), he's cranking out a cliché-ridden serial-killer thriller when not busy making time with new girlfriend Caroline (Maggie Gyllenhaal). As Donald blazes through his screenplay, Charlie slowly picks away at his story, in which author Susan Orlean (Meryl Streep) chronicles John Laroche (Chris Cooper), a scruffy but devoted plant enthusiast who tries to save rare species of orchids by stealing them from their natural home in the swamps of Florida. As John and Susan become better acquainted, they find themselves attracted to one another; similarly, Charlie finds himself increasingly fascinated with Susan, and finds himself falling in love with her, even though he's only seen her photo on the dust jacket of her book. Charlie arranges to meet Susan, but is too nervous to confront her face to face, so he sends Donald (who has just scored a seven-figure deal for his script) in his place, while he attends a screenwriting seminar held by McKee. Adaptation also features Tilda Swinton, Judy Greer, and Stephen Tobolowsky. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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R, 1 hr. 54 min.

Directed by: Spike Jonze

Release Date: December 6, 2002

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DVD Release Date: May 20, 2003

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Flixster Reviews (9,589)

  • StarCrossedVoyager
    May 23, 2012
    StarCrossedVoyager
    A great performance from Cage as the crazy Kaufman siblings. In terms of the story, it was confusing at times however I found it enjoyable and interesting to watch. There was a huge aspect of guessing what was true and what was fiction, but the brothers are very likeable characte... read morers, and as a writer I can definitely place myself in Charlie's shoes and identify with him, which in some ways is scary but also liberating. Definitely something I'd recommend with many very funny moments but also a lot of emotional scenes which really grab your heart.
  • spielberg00
    February 25, 2012
    spielberg00
    The first of a few of the largest great things ADAPTATION. has to offer is the acting, in such a sense that Meryl Streep may easily be categorized as the worst performer of the three leads. Nicolas Cage may not be the best here, but he's the most deserving of applause. He doesn't... read more just portray the main character, but also his fictional twin brother, who is in every aspect a polar opposite. Maybe the most outstanding is Chris Cooper as the carefree Southerner interviewed by Orlean about orchids. It just makes someone as experienced and phenomenal as Meryl Streep look like a newly discovered and uninspired actress.

    Something I find laughably ironic about ADAPTATION. is that it was written by Charles Kaufman, the character of focus, and there's something that inexplicably makes it thirty times more authentic of a motion picture. There is a scene or two in which Charles (onscreen) is deeply questioning his ego, as he neurotically writes himself as a character into his screenplay. We have to wonder if that's another irony: Kaufman (off screen) questioning his ego with THIS one. Truly brilliant; a film that will leave you thinking.
  • CloudStrife84
    December 7, 2011
    CloudStrife84
    When you view this film, the first thing that strikes you is how non-mediocre Nicolas Cage is. He's been in so much crap lately, that it's easy to forget there's actually a gifted performer hiding beneath his tired and resigned exterior. In this brilliantly written semi-biopic, h... read moree plays a dual role as both Charlie Kaufman and his fictional brother Donald. Any serious writer, whether novice or professional, will find much to relate to in the anguish, writer's block and mental overanalyzing that transcends within Charlie's head. They even talk about the same screenwriting book that I currently have on my bedside table. And if you've ever suffered from social awkwardness, this nails it perfectly too. Director Spike Jonze, whom I'm best familiar with through his appearances in Jackass, creates intellectual magic in his collaboration with Kaufman. The story gets a little weird sometimes, as you might imagine, but never to the point where it comes off as pretentious. It's the best kind of creativity at work here, where its originality is only exceeded by the fantastic performances. There's so many wonderful elements to this film, both visually and internally, that you feel grateful for every second you get to spend within its world. An amazing vehicle for Cage, that really changes your view of him as an actor. With this in mind, it also makes it more tragic to witness his descent into B-movie territory. I still have faith though, that some day - perhaps when we least expect it - he'll reclaim his long lost dignity and muster up another tour-de-force like this one. Not likely, but here's hoping!
  • paulkoh110
    October 25, 2011
    paulkoh110
    Either Charlie Kaufman is a genius or a psycho but in the end, one cannot help but comment on how well written his script was. Writing about his troubles with adapting the orchid thief may be pretencious but with Spike Jonze's directing, it seems like a story with a great triumph... read more at the end.
  • stevenecarrier
    June 29, 2011
    stevenecarrier
    "Adaptation" is Charlie Kaufman's crowning achievement. Everyone will say it's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" because it's insultingly accessible at times and it's 'oh so indie.' "Adaptation" does not play nice, fair or easy. While the film is incredibly funny things tur... read moren incredibly dark. In terms of a portrait of a writer's psyche (shown with both Charlie and Susan) it's unparalleled (in American cinema that is). The performances are suitably preposterous. Nicolas Cage can be a dynamic actor when he wants to be and he understands Charlie ten fold. Meryl Streep on the other hand is simply a revelation, plunging into the depths of Susan in extremely unexpected ways. Spike Jonze understand this material. He has a firm grasp on the meta aspects as well as the comedy and the very human characters. Edgy, smart and brilliantly scripted "Adaptation" is one of the most original films to come out of the 00s.
  • fb535316333
    June 8, 2011
    fb535316333
    Effectively explores the often passionless, mundane world of every day existence in an unlikely study and an even more unlikely romance.

    Cage's journey towards epiphany is chronicled in a series of emotional outbursts that aren't just engaging but make great juxtaposition with h... read moreis brother (also Cage)

    Streep's parallel venture to find passion in life leads her to fall in love with an unlikely man. When these plots merge seamlessly together in a fitting closure you can't help but appreciate it's clever workings.
  • jennifxu
    June 8, 2011
    jennifxu
    While I don't have anything against this movie per se, I do think it lacks a lot of heart. I mean, sure, it's clever and all that jazz (but at this point, it's like, anything Kaufman lays his hands on is going to be clever, you know? it's like Woody Allen and Jewishness, it's wei... read morerd if it's not there), and I do think it does have a lot to say about originality and creativity and procrastination and mental illness, but I can't the shake artificial feelings I get from watchng this a second time. I think the first time I was so pre-dazzled by Eternal Sunshine and its incredible cleverness that I jumped to call it a favorite, but it falters a bit under reappraisal. Because I do think the emotional content is empty...even though I know that's sort of purposeful.
  • aliceinpunderland
    May 29, 2011
    aliceinpunderland
    Another movie that ends with "Happy Together!" Nicolas Cage is neurotic, frenetic, pathetic, and oddly romantic. The metafictional motif of this story is just clever as all get out, and the textbook definitions of how-not-to write a screenplay are executed without melodrama or ... read moreapology.
  • mumby1988
    May 12, 2011
    mumby1988
    Although authors in general have pretty interesting lives, the physical act of writing is not particularly cinematic. Numerous filmmakers have tried to put writing on screen, but more often than not their efforts resemble po-faced versions of Monty Python's writing sketch, in whi... read morech Michael Palin commentates on Thomas Hardy beginning his latest novel to a soundtrack of hysterical football supporters.

    Adaptation is among the more successful attempts to put pen to paper on the silver screen. The reputation that Charlie Kaufman has accrued over the last decade leads us to expect the very best, and his screenplay is refreshingly loopy and intelligent. But it is not an unqualified success, being neither as tolerably quirky as Being John Malkovich nor as accessible in terms of characters as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

    The first hurdle which Adaptation has to overcome is the dangers associated with being self-reflexive. There is a very thin line between being self-aware and self-obsessed, and the more one points out how much what we are seeing is a construct, the greater the risk of a film becoming more of an academic discussion than an exercise in drama.

    There have been writers who have sought to deliberately exploit this alienating effect. Bertolt Brecht wrote plays whose characters constantly remind the audience that what they are seeing isn't real, so that they would ask deeper questions about the world around them. In a similar way, Kaufman wants to demonstrate the relationship between art and reality while giving the audience some form of artifice to pull them through. In wanting us to both unpick every line and enjoy the story in itself, he succeeds wholeheartedly on the first part and partially on the second.

    Adaptation is really two films running side by side. One is about a screenwriter struggling to adapt The Orchid Thief, and the other is about Charlie Kaufman struggling to be Charlie Kaufman, who also happens to be adapting The Orchid Thief. The film mixes personal insight into Kaufman's condition with more general ideas and comments about writing. It's hard to tell whether the Charlie Kaufman on screen is Kaufman himself, or a subtly exaggerated version as in Being John Malkovich. But in the end there is enough in the way of drama to prevent us expending all our energies on such restrictive lines of inquiry.

    With this double-barrelled structure in place, Adaptation can begin to explore a number of themes, all of which use writing as a metaphor for modern life. The first of these is the classic conflict between creativity and commercial success, something which has been previously explored in films like Barton Fink. But where the Coen Brothers explored this in a contrast between John Turturro's character and the industry oddballs surrounding him, Kaufman and Spike Jonze try something a lot more introspective.

    Using seamless split-screen shooting, Jonze has Nicolas Cage playing both Charlie Kaufman and his fictional brother Donald. Charlie is the creative genius who believes in his principles and pushing the envelope of his art form - and who as a result is neurotic, depressed and exhausted. Donald, on the other hand, is a hack writer who is content to play the industry game and wants to be happy above everything else.

    The conventional thing to do would be to wage war between the brothers with Charlie coming out on top in a definitive triumph of art over money. It's a corner that Kaufman is entitled to fight, but he knows that being a screenwriter is not that straightforward - and he knows that we know it too. Instead of being constantly at loggerheads, Charlie and Donald begin to take on each other's traits, from Donald using Charlie's facetious suggestion in his script to Charlie attending a Robert McKee seminar.

    The point that Kaufman is trying to make is not simply the need to balance artistic purity with a sense of realism, but about how obsessing with one's art can lead one to lose sight of what really matters - the audience and happiness respectively. Charlie receives a drubbing from McKee for claiming that there can be no inspiration in ordinary life: in pursuing purity he has lost sight of whom he is serving as an artist. Donald is the device through which Charlie learns to adapt to the needs of the book, the needs of his audience and thereby to the needs in life in general.

    Within this there is an existential comment about our perception and creation of personal realities. When asked by his agent what the problem with the book is, Charlie blurts out that it has no story, to which his agent calmly responds: "Make one up." In the absence of a defined progression from A to B in our lives - or at least, one that we can plainly perceive - we invent metanarratives and motivations for ourselves, if nothing else so that we don't have to spend all our time staring at a blank page.

    Adaptation also refers to evolution, which plays out in great detail in one of Charlie's early drafts. There is a discussion as to whether such change is mandatory, and if it is, then whether the need to show anyone is also mandatory. Meryl Streep's character begins as a clearly-drawn journalist, but as the film moves on we see the various changes which have occurred and how she has attempted to conceal these adaptations. There is a comparison with her character in Plenty, insofar as both women have their lives changed by chance encounters with men and spent the remainder of their lives becoming slowly disillusioned by a world which does not accept their new ideals.

    Some of you may have noticed that, in this review so far, I have devoted very little time to the director. That is less an indictment of Jonze's abilities than a reflection of the film's nature. Adaptation is a film in which the screenplay is the main player; it governs and determines everything, and Jonze's direction is appropriately understated to facilitate this. One could almost argue that Adaptation is the 8 1/2 of screenwriters, challenging both the auteur theory in which the director is king and audience perceptions that films are driven or dominated by actors.

    But Jonze's stand-offish approach also hints at the flaws with Adaptation. Despite the best efforts of both writer and director, whole sections do feel academic, with too much voiceover and too little drama. There is an argument that this is deliberate on the part of Kaufman to show how we dramatize so much of our lives, writing ourselves into clichés and conventions. But this jars with the film's message that this is an inevitable process which should be accepted, and as the later work of Woody Allen shows, neurosis and self-hate are not enough on their own to pull us into a story.

    On top of this, most of the characters are in one way or another very irritating. Nicolas Cage is very good as both Charlie and Donald, but you end up wanting to strangle the former for being so pathetic - particularly when he goes all the way to New York, stands in a lift with Meryl Streep and doesn't have the guts to speak to her. Streep starts off well, but eventually she becomes too showy and her breakdown seems overdone.

    Then there is the group of New York intellectuals whose company Streep keeps; the dinner party sequence veers so close to the work of Noah Baumbach that had it gone on any longer, you would lose all patience with her character. The best performance by a mile is Chris Cooper, who genuinely inhabits John Laroche. You can almost smell the manky clothing and un-brushed teeth, and his rambling swathes of dialogue are both insightful and broadly comedic.

    Adaptation is another intelligent effort from Kaufman which is partially hamstrung by its character construction and Jonze's unwillingness to be more commanding with his camera. The ideas which the film raises are fascinating, and even Kaufman at his weakest is more insightful and engaging than half the screenwriters working in Hollywood today. But ironically for a film about writing, it would have benefited most from a director willing to put his foot down and create something a little less didactic.
  • lewiskendell
    March 7, 2011
    lewiskendell
    "There are too many ideas and things and people. Too many directions to go. I was starting to believe the reason it matters to care passionately about something, is that it whittles the world down to a more manageable size."

    What a unique movie. I honestly don't have much of an ... read moreidea how to review it, it's so rambling, expansive, and hard to categorize. On the surface, it's about a shy, socially-inhibited screenwriter who is struggling to write an adaptation of a book. You'll soon see that Adaptation is much more ambitious and "meta" than that.

    I did like it, though. To say that I'm not generally a fan of Nicholas Cage would be an understatement, but he occasionally shines in movies like these. Offbeat, "different" movies where his quirkiness translates well to the subject material.

    I think it's safe to say that fans of Charlie Kaufman's other work will enjoy this. It's undoubtably an intelligent movie that requires an open mind and an affinity for new film experiences.

View All Adaptation Reviews

Critic Reviews

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
April 27, 2003
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It's the sort of movie that keeps reinventing itself and nudging us in the ribs as it does. You'll want to see it soon, because everyone you know will be talking about it. Full Review

Peter Rainer
January 16, 2003
Peter Rainer, New York Magazine

Few recent movies have conveyed so forcefully how people can feel shut out by their own lack of passion, how they yearn to end the emptiness. Full Review

Joe Baltake
January 10, 2003
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee

There's a flash of excitement to this clever film and its performances. Full Review

Bruce Westbrook
January 10, 2003
Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle

Mired in the inertia of Charlie's writer's block, as if the real Kaufman never found his own passion for the material. Full Review

Jay Boyar
January 9, 2003
Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel

One-of-a-kind near-masterpiece.

Desson Thomson
December 20, 2002
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

Adaptation may not be the first movie to examine the creative process. But it's the most playfully brilliant. Full Review

Stephen Hunter
December 20, 2002
Stephen Hunter, Washington Post

Adaptation is simply brilliant. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
December 20, 2002
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Gradually the movie's one joke plays out, and Charlie's doubts about inserting himself into his own screenplay prove to be well-founded. Full Review

Susan Stark
December 20, 2002
Susan Stark, Detroit News

It will surprise you. It will delight you. It will give you something truly chewy to take home from the theater. Full Review

Terry Lawson
December 20, 2002
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press

It's the most original, exhilarating and hilarious movie of the year. Full Review

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    • Robert McKee: And God help you if you use voice-over in your work, my friends. God help you! That's flaccid, sloppy writing. Any idiot can write voice-over narration to explain the thoughts of the character.
    • Donald Kaufman: You are what you love, not what loves you. That's what I decided a long time ago.
    • Robert McKee: Nothing happens in the world? Are you out of your fucking mind? People are murdered every day. There's genocide, war, corruption. Every fucking day, somewhere in the world, somebody sacrifices his life to save someone else. Every fucking day, someone, somewhere takes a conscious decision to destroy someone else. People find love, people lose it. For Christ's sake, a child watches her mother beaten to death on the steps of a church. Someone goes hungry. Somebody else betrays his best friend for a woman. If you can't find that stuff in life, then you, my friend, don't know crap about life! And why the FUCK are you wasting my two precious hours with your movie? I don't have any use for it! I don't have any bloody use for it!
    • Donald Kaufman: You are what you love, not what loves you. That's what I decided a long time ago.
    • Charlie Kaufman: Why didn't I go in? I'm such a chicken. I'm such an idiot. I should have kissed her. I've blown it. I should just go and knock on her door and just kiss her. It would be romantic. It would be something we could someday tell our kids. I'm gonna do that right now.
    • Charlie Kaufman: To begin... To begin... How to start? I'm hungry. I should get coffee. Coffee would help me think. Maybe I should write something first, then reward myself with coffee. Coffee and a muffin. Okay, so I need to establish the themes. Maybe a banana-nut. That's a good muffin.
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Adaptation Trivia

  • She starred in "Silkwood", "The Bridges of Madison County" and "Adaptation.":  Answer »
  • Donald Kaufman was nominated for a Golden Globe and the Oscars with Charlie Kaufman, despite being a fictional character from the movie Adaptation (2002).  Answer »
  • In what movie does writer Charlie Kaufman write himself into his own Screenplay?  Answer »
  • What do these four actors all have in common? Leonardo DiCaprio Lawrence Fishburne Kevin Kline Al Pacino  Answer »
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