Adaptation

Theatrical Release Date: 2002 01 10 (USA) / 2002 12 06 (USA - Limited)

UPC: 014381684322

Studio: Image

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Violence, Not For Children, Adult Language, Sexual Situations, Drug Content]

Summary: The creative team behind Being John Malkovich -- director Spike Jonze and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman -- return with this equally offbeat comedy, in which Kaufman himself becomes the leading character. Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) is a gifted but profoundly neurotic screenwriter who, after the success of Being John Malkovich, has been hired to write a script adapted from the nonfiction book The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean. But while Charlie is obsessive about his work, he's also intensely paranoid, given to deep depression, socially inept, and terrified of talking to women, qualities which are making it difficult to get on with his work or hold on to his tenuous relationship with girlfriend Amelia (Cara Seymour). Meanwhile, Charlie's identical twin brother, Donald Kaufman (also played by Cage), has shown up to move in with his brother. Emotionally, Donald is Charlie's polar opposite -- a loudmouthed, over-confident, superficial party animal who has an easy way with the ladies. Donald has decided to follow his brother's footsteps and take up screenwriting as well, but embracing the dictates of screenwriting tutor Robert McKee (Brian Cox), he's cranking out a clich?-ridden serial-killer thriller when not busy making time with new girlfriend Caroline (Maggie Gyllenhaal). As Donald blazes through his screenplay, Charlie slowly picks away at his story, in which author Susan Orlean (Meryl Streep) chronicles John Laroche (Chris Cooper), a scruffy but devoted plant enthusiast who tries to save rare species of orchids by stealing them from their natural home in the swamps of Florida. As John and Susan become better acquainted, they find themselves attracted to one another; similarly, Charlie finds himself increasingly fascinated with Susan, and finds himself falling in love with her, even though he's only seen her photo on the dust jacket of her book. Charlie arranges to meet Susan, but is too nervous to confront her face to face, so he sends Donald (who has just scored a seven-figure deal for his script) in his place, while he attends a screenwriting seminar held by McKee. Adaptation also features Tilda Swinton, Judy Greer, and Stephen Tobolowsky. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Category: Comedy Drama

Awards: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Screenplay (Runner-up) – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Screenplay (Runner-up) – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Top Ten Movie of the Year – American Film Institute Best Picture – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actress – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Writer – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Picture - Musical or Comedy – null Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or – null Best Supporting Actress – null Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – null Best Director – null Best Screenplay – null Best Screenplay – null Best Supporting Actor (Runner-up) – National Society of Film Critics Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Screen Actors Guild Best Adapted Screenplay – Writers Guild of America Best Adapted Screenplay – Writers Guild of America Best Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Adapted Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Adapted Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Silver Bear – Berlin International Film Festival Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – National Board of Review Best Picture – National Board of Review Best Screenplay – National Board of Review Best Picture – Toronto Film Critics Association Best Actor – Toronto Film Critics Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Toronto Film Critics Association Best Screenplay – Toronto Film Critics Association Best Screenplay – Toronto Film Critics Association Best Picture – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actress – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Screenplay – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Screenplay – Chicago Film Critics Association Best Screenplay – Chicago Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actress – Chicago Film Critics Association Most Promising Performer – Chicago Film Critics Association Best Screenplay – New York Film Critics Circle Best Screenplay – New York Film Critics Circle Best Supporting Actor – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actor – Toronto Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actor – National Board of Review Best Supporting Actor – Screen Actors Guild Best Screenplay – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Supporting Actor – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Screenplay – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Director – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Moti – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Picture - Musical or Comedy – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Supporting Actor – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Actor – Screen Actors Guild

Adaptation

Format: DVD

Release Date: 12/07/2010

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS Digital Theater Systems, DDS Dolby Digital Surround

Runtime: 115 Minutes

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: English,French

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Opening Monologue [2:01]
2. Charlie Kaufman, Screenwriter [2:04]
3. Valerie [2:04]
4. John Laroche [3:45]
5. Donald, Charlie's Twin Brother [2:18]
6. Amelia Kavan [7:03]
7. Delusions of Grandeur [3:44]
8. Spot Your Flower [1:44]
9. Orlean's Dinner Party [2:38]
10. Fuck Fish [2:01]
11. Alice, the Waitress [4:36]
12. The Santa Barbara Orchid Show [8:12]
13. Darkness Descends [6:06]
14. Marty the Super Agent [4:09]
15. Susan's Advice [3:38]
16. The 3 [2:15]
17. Lost in the Fakahatchee [1:30]
18. Robert McKee's Story Seminar [6:21]
19. Drinks With Bob [3:59]
20. The Great Donald's Advice [3:14]
21. Impersonating Charlie [2:09]
22. Spying on Susan [1:55]
23. I'm Very Happy Now [4:39]
24. Secrets Revealed [5:06]
25. Return to the Swamp [5:46]
26. Are They Gone? [5:27]
27. Deus ex Machina [3:24]
28. Happy Together [4:33]

Derek Armstrong

Critics charged with the divine headache of describing Adaptation, in all its twisted magnificence, should find it appropriate that the story concentrates on the paralysis of writer's block, brought on by the impossible urge to say everything. The sophomore collaboration between screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and director Spike Jonze is so drenched with unorthodox ideas, yet so fundamentally accessible, that it actually outdoes the groundbreaking Being John Malkovich in existential pretzel logic, while remaining digestible to a middle-brow audience. Kaufman's real-life struggles adapting Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief get brilliantly expanded into a self-reflexive narrative of sublime originality, in which screenwriter, author, and muse become intertwined, and such rich topics as artistic integrity, social awkwardness, and sibling rivalry get teased and prodded. Not only has Kaufman written himself into the proceedings, but in Nicolas Cage, he's found an exquisite choice to interpret himself and his twin brother -- an imaginary character given "real" life by receiving a screenwriting credit. Sweating, stammering, lowering his eyes, and imploding in a crisis of relevance -- then doing just the opposite as Donald -- Cage kicks his own career out of neutral, at least briefly exchanging the hunt for ever-bigger paychecks with work that truly matters. Although the stories of Orlean (Meryl Streep) and John Laroche (Chris Cooper) both carry a vital urgency, this is Kaufman's film, full of the anxieties of a kinky-haired shlub whose overactive imagination is both his meal ticket and his curse. Inasmuch as it eventually imitates the very story structure it abhors, Adaptation is the rare film that both attacks and revels in the humbling, soul-crushing yet exhilarating mechanics of Hollywood moviemaking. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Catherine Keener  Actor 
John Malkovich  Actor 
Lance Acord  Actor 
Carter Burwell  Composer (Music Score) 
Jonathan Demme  Producer 
Edward Saxon  Producer 
Peter Saraf  Executive Producer 
Spike Jonze  Director 
Charlie Kaufman  Executive Producer 
Charlie Kaufman  Screenwriter 
Vincent Landay  Producer 
Donald Kaufman  Screenwriter 
Nicolas Cage  Actor 
Nicolas Cage  Actor 
Meryl Streep  Actor 
Chris Cooper  Actor 
Brian Cox  Actor 
Tilda Swinton  Actor 
Cara Seymour  Actor 
Judy Greer  Actor 
Maggie Gyllenhaal  Actor 
Jay Tavare  Actor 
Ron Livingston  Actor 
Stephen Tobolowsky  Actor 
Peter Jason  Actor 
Curtis Hanson  Actor 

Country: USA