FILM: Adaptation (Spike Jonze, 2002)

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Adaptation is a 2002 movie directed by Spike Jonze. It focuses on the real-life screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich) and his not-real-life twin brother Donald, as Charlie is tasked with adapting the 1998 non-fiction book The Orchid Thief, by Susan Orlean. Adaptation is both the movie of that book, and the story of the process of writing it. Confusingly, the screenplay is credited to both Charlie and Donald Kaufman.

With me so far? No? It’s a tricky thing to describe, so here’s the Wikipedia entry (with spoilers).

Kaufman writes himself as a neurotic worrier, a loner and introvert, which is ably played by Nicolas Cage. The twist comes when looking at Donald, the twin brother who does not exist in real life, but in this fictional world is excitable, enthusiastic, and has a lust for life. He is unconcerned by how others perceive him and is in every sense the other half of Charlie. Charlie however, can’t stand him.

The film also portrays Susan Orlean as a Manhattenite journalist who is seemingly bored with her cosy life, and is drawn to the wild character of Laroche, the Orchid Thief of the book’s title. For Kaufman, it seems the life of a writer is a lonely and despondent one.

The real twist comes when the twins take action to try to save Charlie’s meandering screenplay, and experience a moment of resolution. In the ensuing climax SPOILERS: Donald is shot and the end scene sees Charlie come to terms with his brother’s death, and seemingly inherit the hope and positivity that Donald embodied.

The film is a must-see for its plays on film structure and the nature of writing as an internal pursuit, and the performances are top notch - the brilliant Meryl Streep alongside Chris Carter and the double helping of Nic Cage (who I normally can’t abide). A film which seemingly rejects the classic Hollywood film structure, but really embraces it.

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FILM is a series of posts looking at the representation of writers in movies.