(2002) 91% (%) 93) NYT Critics' Pick http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9903EEDC123BF935A35751C1A9649C8B63 * * * * "See my profile for the key to this code" * * * * SYNOPSIS: "Blends fictional characters and situations with the lives of real people: obsessive orchid hunter John Laroche (Chris Cooper), "New Yorker" journalist Susan Orlean (Meryl Streep), Hollywood screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Nicholas Cage) and his twin brother Donald. As Charlie struggles to adapt a best-selling book, he writes himself into the movie plot" CONSENSUS: "Dizzyingly original, the loopy, multi-layered "Adaptation", a movie about creative insecurity, misbegotten love and the traps of identity, is both funny and thought-provoking...without a doubt the edgiest movie of the year, and the less you know about it the better." MOTIVATION FOR ME TO SEE: I had seen this film on the boob tube some time ago, and wanted to revisit it again. I had found the film fascinating, but confusing. MY THOUGHTS: When I started looking for a director's commentary on the disc, I realized I hadn't done my homework; there WAS no director's commentary, and while I knew that the complete MARC display wouldn't appear in the HCL catalogue until weeks after reserving this film - trying to fully understand this complex, fanciful, hilarious film about writer's block, obsession, the real and the dreamlike and their convergence without more explanation was what had led to my initial confusion - I should have checked other sources. Almost all reissues have new supplements. Except this wasn't a reissue. It was the original, a film IMHO almost demanding explanation. What a let down. Wait for that Dvd version if you've seen this film before, and always wanted less confusion; or watch and enjoy this film if you've not seen it yet. [New purchase by HCL]

posted Jul 22, 2009 at 1:26PM

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