How much more postmodern can you get? Three years after the wonderfully bizarre (and highly successful) ‘Being John Malkovich,’ writer Charlie Kaufman and director Spike Jonze have once again joined forces for ‘Adaptation,’ a movie about … well, about Charlie Kaufman trying to write ‘Adaptation.’
After the success of ‘Malkovich,’ we see, Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) is enlisted to adapt Susan Orlean’s (Meryl Streep) nonfiction book The Orchid Thief, about John Laroche (Chris Cooper), a toothless and all-around repulsive man who searches for rare ‘ghost orchids’ in the Florida swamps. Only poor Charlie portrayed by Cage as a fat, balding and socially inept miserablist is suffering from a severe case of writer’s block, and in trying to think of ways to make a movie just about flowers (‘No one’s done that before’), he ultimately writes himself into his own script.
But wait … in real life, Charlie Kaufman doesn’t appear to be either fat or balding. He also doesn’t have a twin brother named Donald (also Cage), who looks the same but is in many ways Charlie’s opposite: he’s an extrovert who has no problem picking up the make-up girl (Maggie Gyllenhaal) on the set of ‘Malkovich,’ or selling his own script for a formulaic thriller after attending a screenwriting seminar by Robert McKee (another actual person, played by Brian Cox.) If you’ve seen ‘Malkovich,’ you’ll have an idea of just how weird things can get here.
So, to summarize: ‘Adaptation’ is about both the story of The Orchid Thief and Charlie Kaufman’s personal struggles (fictional or not) as he attempts to turn it into a script. It’s actually not as confusing as it sounds, and give credit to Kaufman and Jonze for making the off-the-wall concept and nonlinear plot work. The story jumps back and forth between various times and places so often that the line between fiction and nonfiction is consistently blurred. It reminds the audience of what Todd Haynes said about his new film, ‘Far From Heaven,’ calling it ‘hyperreal.’ The term certainly seems to apply here: ‘Adaptation’ corrals so many levels of reality that it practically exists on one of its own. It’s a narrative Escher painting of a movie: it requires thought to be appreciated, but too much thought will only prove to be headache-inducing.
Fortunately, like ‘Malkovich,’ ‘Adaptation’ isn’t just weird for the sake of being weird. Kaufman actually has something to say beyond telling us how repulsive and talentless he thinks he is. This is a film largely about passion and seeking it out; in observing Laroche’s passion for orchids, for example, Susan realizes that she’s missing something similar in her own life. At one point, Donald tells Charlie, ‘You are what you love, not what loves you.’ If that line seems a bit mawkish or pedantic, then rest assured that the context is strange and funny enough for it to actually mean something. We sense that Kaufman and Jonze always have tongue planted firmly in cheek, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t believe what they’re saying.
It’s almost too bad that so much of the buzz on ‘Adaptation’ will focus solely on the novelty of its script, great as it is, because there’s a lot here that will probably go largely unnoticed. The performances are outstanding. The idea of Cage in this dual role offers up skepticism, but he nails every note perfectly in what may be his best performance since winning an Oscar for ‘Leaving Las Vegas.’ Streep, not typically known for comic roles, seems right at home with the material and, once again, reminds us of her talent and range. And Cooper, who could have easily fallen victim to typecasting after the combination of ‘October Sky’ and ‘American Beauty,’ somehow manages to be charismatic despite playing a character with no hygiene or front teeth.
This film also leaves little doubt that Jonze is the perfect director for a Kaufman screenplay. He has a similarly off-kilter sense of humor and a strong visual sense to bring his and Kaufman’s ideas to life. Some of Jonze’s visuals literally bring us to the beginning of time and back again, and include, of all things, an appearance by Charles Darwin and an explanation of the symbiotic relationship between flowers and pollinating insects.
Sufficed to say, ‘Adaptation’ is not for everyone. There are those who will find it ‘too’ strange or muddled, and not without good reason. But, for those who can appreciate the calculated insanity at work here, ‘Adaptation’ may prove to be one of the best films of the year.
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