Adaptation

 Adaptation.  This is a wild one.  I think you need a degree in mutlistradated extra-space science or something to describe it.  Look, I'll try it…

Adaptation follows the screenwriting struggles of Charlie Kaufman as he tries to adapt “The Orchid Thief”, a real book about flowers into a screenplay.  As he delves further in the book and the life of its author, Kaufman becomes more and more obsessed with both and the lines of reality and fiction become blurred.  The movie follows him trying to write the book as a movie which then becomes the movie we are watching.  It is unbelievably meta and four wall breaking as it is basically autobiographical but also flips to fiction when it feels like it?  See it turns out that some things are factual and some things are not but which is which.  I didn't really know while watching it until the last act when things really went wild.  I found it so difficult to put into words that I asked an AI to do it for me.  This is what it spat out…

“The movie Adaptation (2002) is a wild ride through the mind of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman as he struggles to adapt a book into a screenplay. Charlie, played by Nicolas Cage, is tasked with adapting a book about orchids, but finds himself completely blocked and unable to come up with a good story.

As Charlie tries to figure out how to approach the project, he becomes obsessed with the book's author, Susan Orlean (played by Meryl Streep), and starts to imagine himself as a character in her book. Meanwhile, Charlie's twin brother, Donald (also played by Nicolas Cage), decides to become a screenwriter as well and comes up with a ridiculous thriller screenplay.

As Charlie's mental state deteriorates, he becomes increasingly erratic and unpredictable. He starts seeing visions of his brother, who seems to be more successful than him in every way. Meanwhile, Susan Orlean's story takes a bizarre turn as she becomes involved with a drug dealer named John Laroche (played by Chris Cooper) who is obsessed with finding a rare orchid.

As the movie builds to a climax, the lines between reality and fiction become increasingly blurred. Charlie, Donald, Susan, and John all find themselves caught up in a crazy, surreal adventure that defies explanation. In the end, the only thing that is clear is that Adaptation is a one-of-a-kind movie that defies easy categorization.”

Not bad Artificial Intelligence, just don’t become Skynet and build T-800s.

So here's the thing about this movie.  It's tricksy.  It opens with real behind the scenes footage of real movie Being John Malkovich.  Which so happens to Director Spike Jonze and screenwriter Charlie Kaufmans’ previous movie together.  There are a couple of shots where the real John Cusack appears and is about to start shooting the real movie Being John Malkovich.  Meanwhile Charlie Kaufman struggles with his writer's block and talks with his not real brother Donald, who is really credited as co-screenwriter with Charlie Kaufman.  The line of reality is baffling.  Still I went along for the ride and had a good time.

Once I got over the existential crisis of what is reality in this movie I found it very enjoyable.  I really like the struggles of Charlie as he couldn’t make the book work as a movie.  I loved the cast.  Their performances were great across the board, and got a bunch of award accolades.  I like how they dealt with the strange and ridiculous situations they found themselves in.  I like that the movie made fun of itself, like when Brain Cox (a screenwriting lecturer) calls out the laziness of using voice over to interrupt Charlie's voice over.  These are well written jokes that tickle the (tiny) intellectual part of my movie loving soul.  

Overall I really enjoyed this movie.  It's smarter than most films, smarter than me and is something completely different.  Reading the IMDb trivia is a must after watching and it gives a whole other level of “wait, what?” moments.