Adaptation

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Charlie Kaufman’s hyperactive imagination is on full display in this, his second collaboration with director Spike Jonze (the first was the bemusing “Being John Malkovich”) but this time there’s so much fertility in Kaufman’s musings that the little technique Jonze brings to the project is obscured. Kaufman’s theme (actually more of an obsession) about a cell dividing into complete opposites is used in virtually every aspect of his script which veers in so many directions that it’s almost dizzying trying to keep up. It’s based on Kaufman’s attempt (true, one supposes) to adapt an unadaptable piece of non-fiction (Susan Orlean’s “The Orchid Thief”) but moves exponentially into fantasies about a twin brother who writes pulp screenplays snarfed up by agents (while he’s trying to write a serious one) as well as Orlean herself and the relationship that evolves between her and her subject, an enigmatic but brilliant Florida horticulturist. The Kaufman twins are played by a well-cast Nicolas Cage who manages to straddle the line between farce and reality and does so with a surety that only confirms his commitment. Orlean is played by Meryl Streep who displays an unexpected sexiness that she pushes to her limits and Chris Cooper is wonderful as John Laroche, the eccentric white trash horticulturalist around whom the story really revolves. Unfortunately, Jonze provides Kaufman’s controlled lunacy a pedestrian, literal approach, suggesting that he may not be the best interpreter of this particular type of material. Still, thanks to Kaufman’s prodigious writing talent and some very fine performances, “Adaptation” is a must-see.