Adaptation is a brilliant piece of writing by Charlie Kaufman. Now the subject matter may not be all that thrilling though. I mean, come on, it is a movie about a flower based on The Orchid Thief. It's what happens in trying to adapt the book that becomes unique and original. The script itself is something to be admired and that's where all the fun comes into play. I don't think it's all that complicated to follow either and I do think people are smart enough to get it. The sign posts are there to keep things on track and keep the story moving forward, even if they are going back 6 months to hundreds of years earlier in the flashback sequences. But Adaptation does require that you pay attention to what is happening on the screen, otherwise you are sure to get lost and wonder what the f*ck is going on. But if you follow the narrative which is somewhat fractured, it's quite exhilarating to see the story unfold.

I do wonder if a movie like this and more specifically Adaptation is going to resonate more with those that write screenplays, novels or short stories rather than the average moviegoer. There are a lot of inside jokes that writers will immediately get that maybe the average person may not. These are the types of films that Nicolas Cage SHOULD be doing. He needs to do smaller, character-driven films instead of his 'paycheck' films like Ghost Rider and National Treasure. The guy is an actor....not an action star.

As for Adaptation itself, 2/3 of the movie is really all about misdirection that has you leaning one way, when in fact it's something else entirely. The third act does have a great callback to something that is said by "Robert McKee" which itself turns out to be another inside joke. "Give the viewer a final act that delivers, and everything else that came before it, including plot holes, will be forgiven". I'm paraphrasing here, but you get the gist of what the third act becomes / is. I really think this is great writing and I highly recommend this as a Rent if you really want something new and fresh. Something different from what you have come to expect from Hollywood. Spike Jonze does a fantastic job putting this movie to together with a stellar cast that also includes Meryl Streep, Brian Cox and Chris Cooper.

Never heard of it.

Hmmmmm

Last time I watched this was a couple months ago while I was in the middle of my screenwriting class.  My teacher was much nicer than Brian Cox, I have to say.

I don't know how this movie plays to the non-creative types, even when it came out I was already years into trying to write (laughable) screenplays.  I guess since it's only one of the plots (and really, kind of an intense framing device), there's more for the norms to get into, Chris Cooper is ridiculously interesting in the flick, he owns that part.  I will say, the Charlie-centric stuff is saved by Donald.