bnorthup
01-29-2003, 12:31 AM
Adaptation (R)
At the Myrna Loy
**** (4 stars)
Building a script using writer’s blocks
By Brent Northup
The movie “Adaptation” took me back to the Port Angeles barbershop where I got crewcuts in the 1950s. There were mirrors on the wall in front of me, and more on the wall behind me. I used to stare into one mirror as it reflected another, as it reflected another, as it reflected another…until I had my first real experience of infinity.
“Adaptation” has that same feeling of endless reflections, circling around one another like hypothetical race cars across a Mobius strip.
At its simplest level “Adaptation” is about a scriptwriter with writer’s block – who eventually unblocks long enough to write the script to the movie we’re watching. The script that’s being written is an adaptation of an actual 1994 bestseller, “The Orchid Thief” by Susan Orlean. The writer “unblocks” by inserting himself into Orlean’s tale, which had to happen, of course, if he is to end up on the screen in the film we’re watching.
To further the fun, the movie includes identical twin scriptwriting brothers, Charlie and Don Kaufman. Charlie Kaufman, you may recall, was the scriptwriter of “Being John Malkovich” which was also directed by Spike Jonze. In “Adaptation” Charlie is, obviously, writing about himself, but adds his twin to spice things up. In fact, the film even gives both twin brothers dual credit for the script, even though only Charlie exists.
Enough of the mind-bending cleverness of “Adaptation.” Suffice it to say it’s a high-IQ film that, like “Mulholland Drive,” will drive smart people crazy trying to decode a puzzle that just might be a joke.
But the beauty of “Adaptation” lies in the human subtexts. From my view, Meryl Streep’s character forms the heart of this tale. She plays Susan Orlean, the writer of the book about Orchids. When we first meet her she’s a consummate professional writer – and a no-nonsense female with a cynical disregard for the crazy orchid connoisseur she is profiling. But the Kaufman script, after trying hard to present her as the philosophical type, suddenly takes a turn for the bizarre and unveils her lonely, dark side – a side that accepts an invitation into psychotic drugs and torrid weekends with a porn-sight designer.
Her self discovery is laced with absurd melodrama that includes a chase through a swamp full of hungry alligators – a little Hollywood extra suggested by shallow Don as a gesture to help smart Charlie write a screenplay that will sell. In fact, dumb Don is the one who writes best-selling scripts – because he’s too blind to see the absurdity of the formula. Did I mention that Charlie actually asks Don for help to break the block? Oh, you knew that because they are co-writers for the film, right?
Streep’s descent into herself is matched by Charlie’s acceptance of himself and his embrace of his brother. I suppose, at the core, the film is optimistic – although other words like “warped” and “tune in, turn on” occurred to me at the time.
Final compliment: Nicolas Cage was effective in both roles, and that’s high praise from me, who has always regarded Cage as an untalented, overpaid star who must be the beneficiary of a Faustian deal. This time’s Cage is effective. If you give enough monkeys, enough typewriters…oops, that’s cruel. In fact, he’s a barber chair that offers us yet another glimpse into infinity.
END
At the Myrna Loy
**** (4 stars)
Building a script using writer’s blocks
By Brent Northup
The movie “Adaptation” took me back to the Port Angeles barbershop where I got crewcuts in the 1950s. There were mirrors on the wall in front of me, and more on the wall behind me. I used to stare into one mirror as it reflected another, as it reflected another, as it reflected another…until I had my first real experience of infinity.
“Adaptation” has that same feeling of endless reflections, circling around one another like hypothetical race cars across a Mobius strip.
At its simplest level “Adaptation” is about a scriptwriter with writer’s block – who eventually unblocks long enough to write the script to the movie we’re watching. The script that’s being written is an adaptation of an actual 1994 bestseller, “The Orchid Thief” by Susan Orlean. The writer “unblocks” by inserting himself into Orlean’s tale, which had to happen, of course, if he is to end up on the screen in the film we’re watching.
To further the fun, the movie includes identical twin scriptwriting brothers, Charlie and Don Kaufman. Charlie Kaufman, you may recall, was the scriptwriter of “Being John Malkovich” which was also directed by Spike Jonze. In “Adaptation” Charlie is, obviously, writing about himself, but adds his twin to spice things up. In fact, the film even gives both twin brothers dual credit for the script, even though only Charlie exists.
Enough of the mind-bending cleverness of “Adaptation.” Suffice it to say it’s a high-IQ film that, like “Mulholland Drive,” will drive smart people crazy trying to decode a puzzle that just might be a joke.
But the beauty of “Adaptation” lies in the human subtexts. From my view, Meryl Streep’s character forms the heart of this tale. She plays Susan Orlean, the writer of the book about Orchids. When we first meet her she’s a consummate professional writer – and a no-nonsense female with a cynical disregard for the crazy orchid connoisseur she is profiling. But the Kaufman script, after trying hard to present her as the philosophical type, suddenly takes a turn for the bizarre and unveils her lonely, dark side – a side that accepts an invitation into psychotic drugs and torrid weekends with a porn-sight designer.
Her self discovery is laced with absurd melodrama that includes a chase through a swamp full of hungry alligators – a little Hollywood extra suggested by shallow Don as a gesture to help smart Charlie write a screenplay that will sell. In fact, dumb Don is the one who writes best-selling scripts – because he’s too blind to see the absurdity of the formula. Did I mention that Charlie actually asks Don for help to break the block? Oh, you knew that because they are co-writers for the film, right?
Streep’s descent into herself is matched by Charlie’s acceptance of himself and his embrace of his brother. I suppose, at the core, the film is optimistic – although other words like “warped” and “tune in, turn on” occurred to me at the time.
Final compliment: Nicolas Cage was effective in both roles, and that’s high praise from me, who has always regarded Cage as an untalented, overpaid star who must be the beneficiary of a Faustian deal. This time’s Cage is effective. If you give enough monkeys, enough typewriters…oops, that’s cruel. In fact, he’s a barber chair that offers us yet another glimpse into infinity.
END