OK film fans, I was planning on catching up on one of the Best Picture contenders tonight but I decided instead to spend some quality video time with my nephew and brother in-law. So we'll just shine that on one more day and I'll go crazy on the posts this weekend. A few nights ago I talked about Leaving Las Vegas and there was a comment about how it would be nice for Nicolas Cage to watch this film and remember he once had an ability to act; something not seen in his more recent films. By sheer coincidence I was reminded of this skill in another more recent (ish) film. Even though he didn't repeat his Oscar win with tonight's film, it's a performance equally as impressive in an even more acclaimed film.
Adaptation is a film so original, complicated, funny and dark that most reviews, no matter how glowing, simply don't do it justice. When I look at the reviews on Rottentomatoes.com I am astounded by critics who actually gave it a less than positive review. For the most part they seemed to have a problem with a film that's unabashedly intelligent and unconventional. If there was a film reviewer union, I firmly believe these idiots would have been drummed out and possibly discovered the final resting place of Jimmy Hoffa.
Despite the fact that it lost an Oscar for Best Screenplay when it came out, reason #213 on the list of reasons why I think the Oscars suck (and yet every year I watch thinking, "this is the year they'll stop sucking soooooo much!"), this is still one of the most exhilarating, brilliant and bewildering screenplays every written. Of course, it comes from Charlie Kaufman, who with only six screenplays to his resume has proven to be the most unique screenwriter around today. Spike (I finally made another decent film) Jones re-teamed here with Kaufman to directed the multitude of moving parts with a flair and nimbleness honed from years as a music video director. The all star cast generated Oscar nods to Cage, Meryl Streep (again) and a win for the brilliant Chris Cooper.
In a nutshell, this is a film about Charlie Kaufman (Cage) attempting to adapt Susan Orlean's (Streep) The Orchard Thief. The real life characters of the non-fiction book are intertwined with the realities of Kaufman's mind, his insecurities and his wild imagination; including the creation of a non-existent twin brother. In an amazing creation from Cage the twin brothers are identical in looks but easily identifiable based on personality alone. Kaufman deals with the mounting pressures of writer's block while adapting a book with no identifiable dramatic lines, a nitwit of a brother who after attending a Robert Mckee seminar on writing screenplays sells one for a million dollars and an infantile crush on the book's author. Throw in some Seminole Indians, drug dealing and gun fights in the Florida swamps and you're confused, fascinated and waiting for more. And more you will get, by the bucket loads.
This isn't a film for everyone, as the Guru states, "only bad movies are for everyone." Kaufman's scripts are like another favorite of mine: single malt Scotch. Like a good glass of Scotch, it's an acquired taste, but its complex textures and aromas linger and there's nothing like it when you're in the mood for something a little more sophisticated.
No comments:
Post a Comment