Adaptation -- 2002 -- R

This is the only film I've ever seen like this. It is that unique. As the title suggests, this is an adaptation of another work, but it is unlike any other adaptation I've ever seen in that it not only adapts the book, but it adapts the life of the author of the book, and the screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman.

In a nutshell, the film follows the main plotline of screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman, working to adapt the book, The Orchid Thief, into a movie. It's hard to say how much of himself Kaufman put into this film, but his trials in adapting the material are amusing, disturbing, and wild to watch. I'm not sure how the book actually goes, but the movie also follows much of Susan Orlean interviewing John Laroche for the book, and the relationship that develops between them. The two lines eventually collide giving Charlie a satisfying ending of knowing how to write his screenplay...the one we just watched.

The characters are very well drawn (I mean, if you don't know how to write yourself, what do you know?), and the plot flows very smoothly through Charlie's and Susan's lives in the film. No, I don't for a minute believe that this is a 100% accurate depiction their lives (it's a movie, people), but the idea that it is real lends a lot of fun and amusement to the flow of the movie.

I really can't recommend this one enough. It was wild and bizarre, but a lot of fun to watch it play out. Definitely one of the greats.