Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

Sabah Hensley This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Abegail Noëlle While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

jonsefcik The first time I watched this movie, I thought "this is either pretentious garbage or pure genius". After letting it sink in for a few days, I thought about it and certain pieces started fitting together. I decided to give it a second watch, and afterwards I was like "oh of course, its genius".I think a lot of people who criticize this film don't understand what the film is going for. I'll try not to spoil anything, but I left a disclaimer since I'll be roughly outlining the plot. A common criticism I see is that the film tries to reject the Hollywood screen writing clichés but chickens out at the end for a dumb action-packed climax. Here's the thing: The film uses the 3-act structure in an ironic way. The film is about the writing of the film. Early on in the film, Charlie Kaufman (the character, not the real person) is trying to stay faithful to the source material he's given to adapt. The source material is The Orchid Thief, a nonlinear book that doesn't really follow a typical 3-act structure. When he experiences writer's block, he asks his twin brother, who went to a screen writing seminar, for help. He even goes to the screen writing seminar himself. Every piece of advice he gets makes the script more formulated, and thus so does the film. It should be fairly obvious once we see Susan Orlean (the character, not the real person) snorting plant drugs and fornicating with John Laroche (the character) that fiction has taken over. That's also why Charlie and Donald follow her to Florida, and crazy stuff involving guns and an alligator ensues. The film's ending works on multiple levels. It can be enjoyed by the average moviegoer as a dumb fun climax but more discerning viewers will be in on the joke.One thing I want to bring up before I wrap up is Nicolas Cage's performance as the fictional Charlie Kaufman. At first I thought "oh come on, there's no way anyone is that insecure and submissive" but then I saw videos of interviews with the real Charlie Kaufman and was like "oh wow, Nick Cage nailed it". Its not an exact recreation, but it definitely works as a fictional portrayal.There's more details I'll leave for you to discover on your own. All you have to know is this is a very clever film and serves as a great satire of Hollywood tropes. Personally, I think this movie is perfect, and there's nothing I would change that I could imagine making the film objectively better. Charlie Kaufman is one of the most fascinating screenwriters working in Hollywood today and I'd say all of his films are worth a watch!

TheHaratashi . What a waste of time and a waste of NC's talent. This role didn't fit NC at all. He just wasn't believable in this role of playing, or should I say over playing, a pathetic socially timid dufus. The movie itself was boring as can be and I didn't care about any of the characters. It's ironic that NC goes to a writing seminar in the movie - I think the people that wrote this movie should have gone to a writing seminar. It's boring, slow, dumb, and about as uninteresting as it can get. Awful movie from every angle.

sme_no_densetsu Building on the success of 1999's "Being John Malkovich", Charlie Kaufman & Spike Jonze re-teamed for 2002's "Adaptation", which turned out to be another distinctive offering. The semi-autobiographical story focuses on screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage), who is struggling to complete an adaptation of a book about orchid poaching.Not exactly the most intriguing premise, I know, but the real Kaufman's Oscar-nominated screenplay is far from your average Hollywood concoction. The character's problems with adapting an essentially plot-less book merely supply the foundation for explorations on the creative process & human passion. Even though the movie skewers Hollywood artifice it cleverly makes use of formulaic tropes in a new and interesting way. Taking such mundane material and making it both thought-provoking & entertaining was no small feat.The cast seems to have been well-suited to the material. Nicolas Cage did double duty as Charlie Kaufman and his identical brother Donald. Cage performances can definitely be erratic but this one (which was Oscar-nominated) has to be considered one of his best. Do I even need to comment on twenty time Oscar nominee Meryl Streep's performance? It's good, of course (not to mention the source of one of her Oscar nominations). However, it was Chris Cooper who stole the show with his note-perfect portrayal of rustic orchid thief John Laroche. His Oscar was well deserved.The direction by Spike Jonze may not have been Oscar-nominated but it certainly could have been, if for no other reason than the performances that he coaxed from his three main actors. Of course, as seen with "Being John Malkovich" and subsequent films, Jonze also knows a thing or two about crafting striking visuals. This film is no exception. From a music standpoint, there isn't much that sticks in my memory apart from an effective use of the Turtles' classic "Happy Together".All in all, "Adaptation" offers a refreshing combination of art and entertainment. The talent both behind and in front of the camera all put their best foot forward in bringing this unique story to the screen. Fans of Kaufman & Jonze are certain to enjoy this even though others may be put off by some of the film's idiosyncrasies.

nadrojh Adaptation is a brilliant movie about a passionate man, a book, and a script. Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman did an incredible job directing and writing. The script is a masterpiece flawlessly layering one story on top of another. I also likes the use of voice over. It is well shot, especially the scenes in the swamp. I also like the use of scenes of the Being John Malkovich set. It has a wonderful cast with incredible performances by Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Brian Cox, and Nicholas Cage who plays dual roles. Adaptation is a brilliant movie. It is a fun adventure in the art of storytelling. It is one of the best movies to come out of the 2000's. It is one of my favorite movies, I can watch it over and over. It is a movie anybody interested in movies should see.