2002 · comedy · drama
Adaptation
Directed by Spike Jonze1h 55m2002
Charlie Kaufman is a confused L.A. screenwriter overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy, sexual frustration, self-loathing, and by the screenwriting ambitions of his freeloading twin brother Donald. While struggling to adapt "The Orchid Thief," by Susan Orlean, Kaufman's life spins from pathetic to bizarre. The lives of Kaufman and Orlean's book become strangely intertwined as each one's search for passion collides with the other's.
Our read: Adaptation (2002) reads as a neutral, steady, surreal comedy · drama entry — gentle in intensity, intimate in scope, cold in temperature, ambivalent in outlook, with a strong directorial signature.
Neutral, steady, gentle comedy / drama, surreal in texture. Ambivalent, intimate, cold.
- surreal
- twisty
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Availability in the UK · via JustWatch
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How Adaptation feels to watch.
Each axis is scored by hand, not from votes or genre averages. The bar uses the film's own colours.
What watching it is actually like.
“You want meta Kaufman chaos about writing, orchids, twins, and creative collapse.”
Skip it tonight — Skip if self-referential spirals and anxious men will feel too inside-baseball.
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Discussion
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