Rating: 
Summary: Boy! Don't blink or go to the bathroom
Review: You leave the room for 5-10 minutes during this movie, go nuke some popcorn, whatever, without clicking the Pause button, and you'll be ...lost. It's a twisty, wacko, sometimes confusing, always brilliant combination of oh, I dunno, sometimes it feels like 10 different stories, but it's really only 3. There's a screenwriter hopelessly trying to write a screenplay of The Orchid Thief (a book without a plot). There's the screenwriter nearly giving up and writing about his own difficulties writing the script. And there's his totally annoying twin brother, a doofus, who writes away in the background, distracting his bro, and managing against all odds to write something that scores. Written with wit, cynicism, angst. Cast is stellar, appropriately creepy at times, terrifying (as the Orchid Thief sometimes was; it's a crazy world out there!), and always wonderful.
Don't miss it, but don't forget to hit Pause for bathroom breaks!
Rating: 
Summary: Skip it
Review: This movie was one of the worst I have seen in a very long time. Couldn't even finish watching it. Don't waste your time.
Rating: 
Summary: Almost great
Review: This is such a wonderful movie, could have been great. so different, interesting, thoughtful... but then it does falter.. it throws in the car chase, the pursuit, the murder, alligator attack... sheesh......
the screenwriter obviously ran out of steam (though this is exactly predicted in the movie's story, but still it fails).. or was fearful that it couldn't make a profit as it was.So, I watch it to that point and turn it off, and it is quite good that way.
Rating: 
Summary: OFF-BEAT, ORIGINAL, BUT ULTIMATELY BORING
Review: A little like "Being John Malkovich", this movie sports a pretty novel theme too as it folds unto itself. The _actual_ writer of the movie, Charlie Kaufman, is also the pivot of the movie, played by Nicolas Cage, and the movie is loosely wrapped around his attempts to write a screenplay from book written about orchid hunters in Florida. But he has a fictitious twin brother, Donald Kaufman (also played by Cage) who sneaks into the "plot", providing a perfect and not to mention hilarious alter-image to the soft-spoken, anxious, sexually frustrated Charlie. While Charlie struggles (and fails) to write, his twin brother goes to a 'How To Be A Screen-Writer' lecture and ends up writing a widely acclaimed film, adding to Charlie's psychotic predicaments. The film switches between Meryl Streep's character writing the original book and Charlie writing (or not) the screenplay until the two timelines collide. This is somehow supposed to be a delusionally intriguing mirage of characters, and though Cage and Streep are in absolutely brilliant form, and the script tight, this whole dog-and-pony show of reality-is-me ultimately ends up not being all that funny. Or interesting. Imho. Kaufman clearly suffers from hyper-originality. Being John Malkovich became a little too intriguing to be sensible in about half an hour. The same happens with Adaptation in perhaps an hour. Despite a handful of stunning effects and dramatic sequences, it's difficult to work out who's trying to be profound: the film or the book. You may enjoy seeing it once for the sheer boggle of it. If you care, you may have to see it again to understand it the second time around. Otherwise, once or less is enough.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie
Review: The trio of lead actors: Nicholas Cage, Meryl Streep, and Chris Cooper, make "Adaptation" as good as it is. All three are well-deserving of their Oscar nominations. One must love how the Charlie Kaufman, the screenplay writer, takes two true people, including himself, and fictionalize their lives brilliantly. The scenes with the two Nicholas Cages were edited wonderfully so everything blends perfectly. One would guess they were actually two different people if that one was unfamiliar with him. The creative writing and producing make this "Adaptation" much more enjoyable to watch.
Rating:
Summary: Seeing Nick Cage fat and bald is worth the money...
Review: An excellent film written by the writer of Being John Malcovich and the writer of Being John Malcovich's brother about the writer of being John Malcovich and his twin brother, except that the writer of Being John Malcovich doesn't have a brother so the writing credit to the writer of Being John Malcovich's brother is fake... kinda confusing, but you'll understand. Excellent srory, script, acting and directing. I've watched it thrice in the same day...
Rating:
Summary: Narcissistic Adaptation
Review: The book, "The Orchid Thief" is wonderful. It is ashame that it is connected to the narcissistic screen play and movie "Adaptations". The only thing in common are the character names. I hope someone else will do justice to the book in the future. If I could have picked a negative star (black hole) I would have. I watched the whole thing, because I had read the book. I felt cheated by this "cop out" movie. Everyone I was watching it with fell asleep. It was a true disappointment after reading the book.
Rating:
Summary: Being Charlie Kaufman
Review: For me to call a film a masterpiece, it must a) bend my mind, b) invigorate me, c) offer something original, but most of all, it's just gotta entertain me like no film ever has before. There are certain films I call masterpieces. "Goodfellas," "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," "Back to the Future," "The Terminator," "Jaws," "It's a Wonderful Life": I know those films aren't what one would typically have on their lists of the greatest films ever. But I didn't say the greatest films ever. I said masterpieces. And while those films are on my greatest films ever list, without a doubt, I also call them masterpieces. "Goodfellas" is one of the best dramas ever. "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" is not only my favorite comedy, but a deeply sentimental and touching one, too. "Back to the Future" is not only one of the most re-watchable films ever (next to "Planes..."), but is also highly entertaining AND extremely thought-provoking. "The Terminator" is thought-provoking, but menacing and fear-packed. "Jaws" is a cleverly-built, well-oiled scare machine. And "It's a Wonderful Life"...well...no explanation necessary. So it kind of busts my chops when a film comes out and everyone calls it an instant masterpiece. Because while there are the instant masterpieces, I truly believe people are too open to admitting a film is a masterpiece, without really examining the film itself. Take 1999's smash hit "Being John Malkovich," about a nerd (John Cusack) finding a portal into actor John Malkovich's mind. Original, no doubt. But for me, it just didn't do anything. Some films seem to be original simply for that purpose, and nothing else. That's how I woul define "Being John Malkovich." The film was written by Charlie Kaufman, a quiet, non-social creature who "Kaufs" up scripts for movies that are original. His latest journey, "Adaptation," is a real mind-boggler. Try to get this all down... Charlie Kaufman is given the chance to turn Susan Orlean's book "The Orchid Thief" into a major motion picture. The only problem is that the novel has no plot. It is simply about flowers, and nothing else. Kaufman just cannot find meaning in the chaos. He eventually gets way behind schedule on the project, and realizes that in an effort to create a plot, he has just written himself into the story. He has written a story about himself trying to find a plot in the chaos. As his fictional-in-real-life twin brother Donald says, "That's kinda weird, isn't it?" And what is so weird is that on-screen, we see Charlie Kaufman writing about himself. But in real life, Charlie Kaufman was writing about Charlie Kaufman writing about Charlie Kaufman. It's like taking two mirrors, lining them opposite each other, and standing something in the middle, having that something cast a reflection in a mirror, which would then, in turn, reflect the image into the other mirror, which in turn casts that image into the mirror it originated from, forever and ever. In the film "Adaptation," Nicolas Cage plays Charlie Kaufman. And one of the confusing things about this movie is that you cannot seperate fiction from non-fiction. I've never heard of a novel named "The Orchid Field." Does it really exist? Is Susan Orlean a real, living being? Was Kaufman really trying to write about her story, and in turn wrote himself in when he developed Writer's Block? Well, yes, she is real. I'll have to get back to you on the other question. To be honest, the film is quite odd and fun to watch, until the very end, in which everything suddenly goes haywire. As in "Malkovich," the characters suddenly become crazy. The author Susan Orlean (Meryl Streep) and her no-toothed lover (Chris Cooper) start to try and kill Kaufman. Throughout the entire film, Orlean was a normal being, with emotions, and she did realistic things. But right at the end, she becomes some crazy killer bent on destroying Kaufman. But the ending seems more justified than that of "Malkovich." In "Being John Malkovich," the characters suddenly just get weird; I thought it was pathetic, and ruined the whole movie. But in "Adaptation," Kaufman attends a screenwriting class, where Kaufman complains that voice-over narratives must be used in films without a plot ("The Orchid Field). A man named Bob tells Kaufman, "What, you don't think life is exciting on its own?" So, in some way or another, the ending symbalizes the fact that Kaufman realizes how exciting life is. Throughout the entire film everything is normal, but when Bob tells him life is exciting, he starts to see that things really are exciting, i.e. the author trying to kill Kaufman. So no matter how bad the ending to this film was, it was more dignified and justified than that in "Malkovich," and if you can accept that, I think the rest of the movie - though at times odd - is worth seeing. A definite improvement over "Being John Malkovich."
Rating:
Summary: A Very Strange Movie
Review: This movie was out there but you expect is from Spike Jonze and Kaufman. I watch an enormous amount of movies. Of all the films I have seen this is truly an original. Every second longer I watched it drew me in further. Not at any point did I have the ending picked. During the movie I did fear that it was going to fail or fall short of my expectations. Adaptation actually exceeded my expectations. The entire project could have failed. A cast of great actors, writers and directors were the driving force. Yes you have probably heard that before. But Nicolas Cage gave a performance that drew me in. His distinction of twin brothers who are direct opposites was amazing. I can see how it would be difficult for a viewer not to understand the brothers if they didn't have a brother. I have a younger brother and related to the Kaufman struggle strongly.
Beyond great acting is the very strange story line. Kaufman writes him and his brother into the screen play. In the movie his character also writes himself into his screen play which is part of the film. It's like looking at a set of mirrors facing one another. I wonder how much of the brother interaction was real. All I can say is I like this movie. Some day I may add it to my DVD collection. It was entertaining. The beginning monologue of Charlie hit home. How many times have we though those same things or felt uncomfortable in situations or miss out on opportunities. There is an underlying message in Adaptation. My problem is I was to involved in what was happening on the screen. Beyond the movie the DVD picture was gold. DTS sound track was equally good. Superbit makes a huge difference.
Rating:
Summary: It's clever, almost to a fault
Review: Possible spoiler within! 'Adaptation' is a dramatised quasi-documentary in which celebrated screenwriter Charlie Kaufman describes his efforts to adapt Susan Orlean's 'The Orchid Thief' to the screen ...and then some! As if unsatisfied with the concept of guiltlessly adapting this alleged real-life commission to suit his innovative self, Kaufman takes several indulgent steps beyond a factual account of the process. In addition to exploring (and possibly speculating about) Orlean's experiences whilst researching her story, Kaufman adds numerous layers of psychological refuse to his own personality. Charlie's total lack of confidence borders on self-hate as he struggles to write his screen play (seen in clever interjections throughout) and struggles even more to live his life. Perhaps this describes Kaufman's own difficulties with the task. Kaufman's fictional twin brother, Donald, may or may not be a figment of (the dramatised) Charlie's imagination, but he is certainly the catalyst for a radical change of direction later in the film. After Kaufman establishes Charlie's total reluctance to pursue his only route to salvation - meeting Orlean - he hypothesises the result of a departure from his virtuous ideals in favour of the formulaeic "Hollywood" aproach (as endorsed by Charlie's goofy twin brother). Charlie's thoughts and actions are seen as a manifestation of this change as the film begins to follow it's new path. Nicolas Cage does an excellent job with both characters. The various chains of dialogue are smoothly integrated (thanks to some slick editing and clever work from Cage) and the 'Kaufman brothers' are always sufficiently short of being characatured. An excellent film which can only be penalised for acknowledging it's own existence! Great score, nice picture and good sound quality, but why so shy on bonus materials?
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