Adaptation. (2002)

Adaptation. is a film directed by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman featuring Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper. It takes place in Hollywood and tells the semi-autobiographical, semi-satirical story of the adaptation of The Orchid Thief by Charlie Kaufman, a self-loathing fat screenwriter.

The subtle outlining of the plot and the way I empathised with the (anti-)hero are strikingly odd, and at first, I was really confused and didn’t know what I was watching. However, as the film self-referenced more and more, details — the seemingly most innocent ones — got explanations, and everything fell into place. It’s a complex tale about passion, orchids, screenwriting, confidence, and the mechanisms around Hollywood’s marketing machine.

Nicolas Cage had to play Charlie Kaufman and his fictional twin brother Donald Kaufman, two characters that are radically different, and he did a great job. All the other actors were brilliant, but Nicolas Cage’s performance was really impressive, and went wildly unnoticed by the people that give away gold statues, sadly.

It may seem confusing or boring, but that film was quite something.