Plot

While Being John Malkovich is being filmed, the self-loathing and agoraphobic Charlie Kaufman is hired to write the screenplay for The Orchid Thief. Charlie is going through melancholic depression and is not happy that his twin brother Donald has moved into his house and is mooching off him. Donald decides to become a screenwriter like Charlie and attends Robert McKee's famous seminars. Charlie, who rejects simplistic formulaic script writing, wants to ensure that his script is a faithful adaptation of The Orchid Thief. However, he comes to realize that there is no narrative to the book and that it is impossible to turn into a film, leaving Charlie with a serious case of writer's block.

Meanwhile, Donald's spec script for a clichéd psychological thriller, called The 3, sells for six or seven figures, while Charlie accidentally starts writing his script with self-reference. Already well over his deadline with Columbia Pictures, Charlie visits Susan in New York for advice on the screenplay. Unable to face her, Charlie visits McKee's seminar in New York and asks him for advice and then brings Donald to New York to assist with the story structure.

Donald pretends to be Charlie and interviews Susan but is suspicious of her account of events because it is too perfect. He and Charlie follow Susan to Florida where she meets Laroche. It is revealed that the Seminole only wanted the Ghost Orchid to manufacture a drug that causes fascination; Laroche introduces this drug to Susan. Laroche and Susan catch Charlie observing them taking the drug and having sex, so Susan decides that Charlie must die.

She forces him at gunpoint to drive to the swamp where she will kill him. Charlie and Donald escape and hide in the swamp where they resolve their differences and Charlie's problems with women. Then, Laroche accidentally shoots Donald. Fleeing, Charlie and Donald drive off but crash into a ranger's truck which kills Donald. Charlie runs off into the swamp to hide but is spotted; Laroche is killed by an alligator before he can kill Charlie.

Susan is arrested. Charlie then makes up with his mother, tells his former love interest, Amelia, that he is still in love with her, and finishes the script. It ends with Charlie in a voice-over announcing the script is finished and that he wants Gérard Depardieu to portray him in the film.

Cast

• Nicolas Cage as Charlie Kaufman / Donald Kaufman
• Meryl Streep as Susan Orlean
• Chris Cooper as John Laroche
• Cara Seymour as Amelia Kavan
• Brian Cox as Robert McKee
• Tilda Swinton as Valerie Thomas
• Ron Livingston as Marty Bowen
• Maggie Gyllenhaal as Caroline Cunningham
• Judy Greer as Alice
• Stephen Tobolowsky (deleted scenes) as Ranger Steve Neely
• Bob Yerkes as Charles Darwin

Tom Hanks was originally set for the double role of Charlie and Donald Kaufman, while Variety was convinced Donald was a real person. Cage took the role for a $5 million salary, and wore a fatsuit during filming. Streep expressed strong interest in the role of Susan Orlean before being cast, and took a salary cut in recognition of the film's budget. John Turturro was approached to portray John Laroche. Cooper heavily considered turning down Laroche, but accepted it after his wife's persistence. Albert Finney, Christopher Plummer, Terence Stamp and Michael Caine were considered for the role of Robert McKee, but McKee personally suggested Brian Cox to filmmakers.

Litefoot and Jay Tavare have small roles as Seminoles. John Cusack, Catherine Keener, John Malkovich, Lance Acord and Spike Jonze have uncredited cameos as themselves in scenes where Charlie Kaufman is on the set of Being John Malkovich. More cameos include Doug Jones as Augustus Margary for a small scene when Susan fantasizes about the history of orchid poaching, Jim Beaver as Ranger Tony, director Curtis Hanson as Orlean's husband, and David O. Russell as a New Yorker journalist.

Production

"The emotions that Charlie is going through are real and they reflect what I was going through when I was trying to write the script. Of course there are specific things that have been exaggerated or changed for cinematic purposes. Part of the experience of watching this movie is the experience of seeing that Donald Kaufman is credited as the co-screenwriter. It's part of the movie, it's part of the story."

—Charlie Kaufman on writing the script

The idea to do a film adaptation of Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief dates back to 1995. Fox 2000 purchased the film rights in 1997, eventually selling them to Jonathan Demme, who set the project at Columbia Pictures. Charlie Kaufman was hired to write the script, but went through writer's block and did not know what to think of The Orchid Thief. In turn, Kaufman wrote about his experience adapting the script through exaggerated events, and created a fictional "brother" named Donald Kaufman. Charlie even went as far as putting Donald's name on the script and dedicated the film to the fictional character. By September 1999, Kaufman had written two drafts of the script, and turned in another draft in November 2000.

Kaufman explained, "The idea of how to write the film didn't come to me until quite late. It was the only idea I had, I liked it, and I knew there was no way it would be approved if I pitched it. So I just wrote it and never told the people I was writing it for. I only told Spike Jonze, as we were making John Malkovich and he saw how frustrated I was. Had he said I was crazy, I don't know what I would have done." In addition Kaufman stated, "I really thought I was ending my career by turning that in!" Adaptation went on fast track in April 2000, with Kaufman mildly rewriting the script. Scott Brake of IGN leaked the script on the Internet in June 2000, as did Drew "Moriarty" McWeeny of Ain't It Cool News in October. Columbia Pictures committed to North America distribution only after Intermedia came aboard to finance the film in exchange for international distribution rights. Filming started in late March 2001 in Los Angeles, California, and finished by June. The "evolution" fantasy sequence was created by Digital Domain, while Skywalker Sound was responsible for the audio mixing of Adaptation.

Reception

Columbia Pictures had at one point announced a late 2001 theatrical release date. Adaptation. opened on December 6, 2002 in the United States for a limited release. The film then was released nationwide on February 14, 2003, earning $1,130,480 in its opening weekend in 672 theaters. Adaptation. went on to gross $22.5 million in North America and $10.3 million in foreign countries, coming at a total of $32.8 million. Based on 193 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, Adaptation. received an average 91% overall approval rating; the film was more balanced with the 34 critics in Rotten Tomatoes' "Top Critics", receiving a 85% approval rating. By comparison, Metacritic calculated an average score of 83 from 40 reviews.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times believed the film was something "That leaves you breathless with curiosity, as it teases itself with the directions it might take. To watch the film is to be actively involved in the challenge of its creation." He later added the film to his "Great Movies" collection. At the end of 2009, Ebert named the film one of the best of the decade. Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe thought "This is epic, funny, tragic, demanding, strange, original, boldly sincere filmmaking. And the climax, the portion that either sinks the entire movie or self-critically explains how so many others derail, is bananas." David Ansen of Newsweek felt Meryl Streep had not "been this much fun to watch in years", while Mike Clark of USA Today gave a largely negative review, mainly criticizing the ending: "Too smart to ignore but a little too smugly superior to like, this could be a movie that ends up slapping its target audience in the face by shooting itself in the foot."

Chris Cooper won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, while Nicolas Cage (Actor in a Leading Role) and Streep (Supporting Actress) were nominated. Charlie and Donald Kaufman were nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. Donald became the first truly fictitious person nominated for an Oscar. Cooper and Streep won their respective categories at the 60th Golden Globe Awards. Spike Jonze, Cage and Kaufman were nominated for awards while Adaptation. was nominated for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. Cage, Cooper and Streep received nominations at the 56th British Academy Film Awards, with Kaufman winning Best Adapted Screenplay.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]