Adaptation (Superbit Collection)

Adaptation (Superbit Collection)
by Spike Jonze

List Price: $14.94
Our Price: $3.98
You Save: $10.96 (73%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: DVD
See more DVD details

DVD details

DVD Reviews of Adaptation (Superbit Collection)

DVD Review: the glories and risks of being a nonconformist in art
Summary: 3 Stars

Both "8 ½" and "Adaptation" deal not only with the creative process, but also with what happens when that process suddenly stops dead in its tracks. In this case, it is writer Charlie Kaufman who, fresh from the critically acclaimed hit "Being John Malkovich," is confronted with the need to move ahead onto his next project. Only his creative well has run dry. Fearful of failure and riddled with self-doubt, the writer, played by a paunchy, balding Nicolas Cage, struggles with adapting a nonfiction magazine article, Susan Orlean's New Yorker piece entitled "The Orchid Thief" (about, you guessed it, orchid collecting), into a commercially viable screenplay. Meanwhile, as deadlines approach and tensions mount, Charlie stares at blank sheets of paper curled up in his typewriter which seem to haunt, taunt and mock him for his inability to bring it all together. Charlie wants nothing more than to finish his work, yet he refuses to compromise his integrity by going for the obvious in his screenplay. He wants to distill the essence of Orlean's work and to capture on film the exquisite beauty of the flowers without recourse to phony melodramatics or manufactured conflicts. The problem is, of course, that film, by its very nature, virtually demands drama and conflict, so Charlie is left with little to work with from the source material. More galling even than that is the fact that his twin brother (the fictional Donald Kaufman, who earns co-screenwriter credit on the film) is feverishly writing his own screenplay (no writer's block here), a crassly commercial, by-the-numbers, formulaic affair that is the direct antithesis of everything the highly principled Charlie is trying to accomplish. After all, in the world of commercial moviemaking, "compromise" is the great force that ends up moving mountains - and it is the rare artist who can have a successful career without it.

The third major character is Susan Orlean herself, a celebrated writer who discovers that, in spite of all her talent and acclaim, she has never found any one thing in her life to be truly passionate about. In many ways, it is this lack of passion and this tendency to over analyze and over intellectualize every aspect of life that is inhibiting Charlie's creative impulses as well. When Susan hooks up with this simple orchid collector, John Laroche, she feels that she has finally met a person who, through a profound dedication to a single cause, has unlocked some of the meaning of life.

There is certainly much to praise in "Adaptation." The Pirandellian, film-within-a-film narrative structure is clever and challenging, as the moviemakers consistently cross over the line separating fiction from nonfiction. The sly movie industry "in" jokes (especially those concerning the "art" of screenwriting) are often sharp, witty and incisive. Kaufman is not afraid to take a few good-natured jabs even at himself, as when Charlie admits that only the most pretentiously self-indulgent and vacuous storyteller would make himself the subject of his own work. The relationship between the two Kaufmans, both expertly played by the same Nicholas Cage, is fascinating in the way the men can be so alike on the outside and yet so different on the inside. Charlie is ingenious, introspective and paranoid, always second guessing his every move and evaluating his every action in terms of how they will make others see or judge him, while Donald is the exact opposite, prosaic, happy-go-lucky and openhearted, letting life just happen to him and not giving a damn what anyone else chooses to think of him. Perhaps, the fictional Donald is really the alter ego Charlie wishes he could be. How much easier it would be to be comfortable in one's own skin and to be able to conform to Hollywood standards with no nagging conscience to worry about. The juxtaposition between the two men provides some of the wittiest and, yet, most moving moments in the film. Meryl Streep does a fine job highlighting the basic emptiness of a searching soul, and Chris Cooper has charm to spare as the toothless orchid collector who serves as the focus of Susan's article and, ultimately, her life.

The controversial aspect of "Adaptation," and the one that has proved most troublesome for a large segment of even its most appreciative, receptive audience, is the direction the film takes in its final half hour. As I see it there are a few possible explanations as to just what Kaufman and Jonze are up to here: a) they simply ran out of inspiration and didn't know how to bring their story to a proper close (unlikely); b) they are doing a parody of the infamous Weak Third Act Syndrome that has haunted writers from the very beginning of recorded history (possibly); or c) they are trying to show - as the theme of the film implies - that in order to survive and move ahead in this life, we all end up "adapting" ourselves to our environment and situations, just as Kaufman himself is doing, finally providing the kind of melodramatic superstructure this essentially nonlinear story about orchid collecting needs to make it saleable. Yet, regardless of which interpretation is correct, the fact remains that the final act of this film really IS bad and goes a long way towards undercutting the value of so much of the rest of the film.

I wish I could say I loved "Adaptation," but the truth is that Kaufman and Jonze seem to have fumbled the ball right as they were crossing over the goal line. "Adaptation" is an enjoyable, clever and entertaining work, but that it just might fall short of being the masterpiece so many critics acclaim it to be.

Description of Adaptation (Superbit Collection)