Rating: 
Summary: Might be the only one but I hated it.
Review: From reading the other reviews it seems that everyone else loved this film more than I did. I wanted to leave the cinema (two of my friends did) when I went to see it. I found the story between Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper well acted and touching but I was irritated by the parts of the film that featured Nicolas Cage's character, Charlie. For me it was almost as if he was getting in the way and I left the cinema with the distinct impression that I would have enjoyed it much more if I had simply read the book.
Rating:
Summary: Everyone told me it was good, but...
Review: Everyone told me I'd love this movie. I want to be a screen writer, and I love different movies, including Being John Malkovich. When I finally rented it...it just didn't do anything for me. It didn't entertain me, or really get me involved. I know it's got a cool message or whatever, but you have to get the audience into the story before you give them the message or they won't care! At least...that's what I think.
Rating: 
Summary: Three Cs: Creative, cunning, courageous
Review: This movie was brutally honest. Half way through their first date, the waitress kisses Charlie and removes her top. It's just a dream. When Charlie asks her out for real, she's horrified.It's incredibly brave, too, because the sceenwriter- both in real life and in the movie- wrote about himself, his brother and the author of the novel the film is based upon- without bothering to change any of the names. The result is a masterpiece. Even with the weird twist at the end, for which I considered taking off a star, emotions remain real and profound. This was a very good movie, with moments of hilarity, sadness and hope. It was as if they had a camera on me when they were making it.
Rating:
Summary: Oscar worthy from Cage, Cooper and Streep
Review: The best movie i have ever seen! Its a big statement, but its all true! The movie itself was nothing short of 5 stars, and how it apperently just got left out for a oscar nod for best film i don't know? The smartest film, that is made with perfection by Spike Jonze and the Kaufman's (if Donald was real). The performances were the highlight of the movie though, with the most important one being the one that was the "make or break" performance (it made it!), and did deserve the oscar was Nicolas Cage, as both Charlie and Donald Kaufman (Nicolas Cage was nominated for his second oscar here, his first he won for best actor in a leading role in Leaving Las Vegas). The two characters were twins, which Cage nailed both perfectly, made harder by the to twins looking identical, but personality wise are worlds apart, and we, the viewer know at all times who is who it terms of separating the twins that look identical to our eye's! Meryl Streep was also good, putting in a role that also gave her a oscar nomination! Chriss Cooper was also stunning, as John, in which this role gave him his first oscar nomination, which he won! But the highlight of the movie was from Nicolas Cage. He in which gave a performance like nobody else could have, and IF his performance wasn't perfect (which it WAS), the movie wouldn't have worked, but it did, it is the only movie i have ever seen which has nothing wrong with it, and all right!
PERFECT!
Rating:
Summary: Adapting to Adaption
Review: Two days later, and I'm still thinking about ADAPTATION. First, the screenplay by Charlie Kaufman is brilliant. The movie takes so many surprising twists and turns that Kaufman keeps you on your toes. And then he manages to take the story into territory you never thought it would go (clue: Streep is in her RIVER WILD mode toward the end), and then manages to let his characters change (a screenwriting essential, according to the film!) and "adapt." The reason ADAPTATION is fascinating is because it is aware of its story and the screenwriting process -- it's about Charlie Kaufman (played by Nicholas Cage). Immediately, one thinks: "How could a screenwriter put himself in a movie about a screenwriter trying to adapt an unadaptable book?! Isn't that self-absorbed?" Then you see Cage, as Kaufman, say the exact same thing in the movie. Which completely draws you in and makes the film utterly fascinating. Kaufman has made a movie about a book (THE ORCHID THIEF, ISBN: 044900371X) Then, he fictionalizes the author of that book (Susan Orlean, played by Meryl Streep) as a character in the movie ... get it? Along the way, Kaufman's story takes over and the book's story fades away. But Kaufman and Orlean's worlds are intertwined and ADAPTED into a hybrid story about a self-conscious screenwritor and a quirky, undramatic flower story. Very smart stuff. Director Spike Jonze does an excellent job. Cage is brilliant as Kaufman and his twin brother Donald, who is the yang to Charlie's yin. It's so great to see Streep in this type of film. I liked her better here than in THE HOURS. Even the title of the film has dual meanings: It's about ADAPTING a book; and it's about how we, as humans, ADAPT and change. Kaufman's brought it all together beautifully with the orchids as symbols of all this. Ohhhh, so good! The DVD, by the way, has no extra features beyond a trailer. The image and sound, however, look and sound great. I watched it in anamorphic format on my digital widescreen tv, and was completely satisfied with the viewing experience. I'd recommend this film for people who (a) can't stand the major movies out there these days that are aimed at teenagers, (b) like a movie to surprise them and challenge them, (c) like unconventional storytelling (flashbacks, flashforwards, etc.), (d) want to learn about Orchids. (Yes! The movie actually features some fascinating sequences about Orchids.)
Rating:
Summary: Best Movie of 2002
Review: What can I say?? I find myself switching on the DVD Player again and again to view scenes from this movie. The acting by Nicolas Cage and Chris Cooper is simply phenomenal. The dialogue is refreshingly funny in a non-boisterous sort of way. Overall the characters are very well formed. The portrayal of Charlie Kauffman would have several people nodding their heads - I could distintly relate to his character - well, a "loser" if you will! The plot wanders at the end, grabbing cliched Hollywood lines, but that's the whole point of the movie, as others have mentioned!
Rating:
Summary: for intelligent people
Review: some 'reviewers' here should really stick to the blockbusters and not risk overloading their frail mental capacities with complex storylines and stylish filmmaking. this movie is a brilliant exploration of the book which it is based on and an ode to screenwriting in general. sophisticated and sharp.
Rating:
Summary: great
Review: This is one darkly humorus movie i'd reccomend. I laughed so hard at parts. Nicholas Cage has duel roles as screenwriting twins Charlie and Donald Kaufman. This Spike Jonze guy is a genius at directing and picking out good scripts and actors / actresses. The story is Charlie wants to write a movie based on a kinda real life book The Orchid Thief By Susan Orlean. The main charector in the book is the orchid thief brilliantly played by Chris Cooper. The movie did have an different ending than i expected but it was still one of the greatest of all time. next up how bout Spike Jonze and Kevin Smith do a movie together.
Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful, intelligent masterpiece
Review: I don't think I can even begin to describe the plot of Adaptation. And I don't think I should even try. Better to let it surprise you and work its wonders as you sit there trying to figure out how the three different levels of reality in the movie all fit together. Yes, there is some effort involved. If you crave mindless entertainment, look elsewhere. But if you're prepared to engage the movie on its terms, to reflect on its themes and layers of meaning, you will find it an immensely rewarding experience. Watch it twice, three times, or four, and let it all sink in. But for all the convoluted plotting, hilarious dialogue, and thematic brilliance, what really elevates this movie is its heart. Why some reviewers have found Adaptation "depressing" is utterly beyond me. It is practically overflowing with joy and passion: in the direction, in certain of the characters, in the virtuoso performances by Cage, Cooper, and Streep, and in the way it exults in the elegant design and beautiful simplicity of Nature. Speculation is always dangerous, and hyperbole is to be avoided, but this really is a masterpiece. In 25 years, we may look back on Adaptation as one of the landmark artistic achievements of the early 21st century.
Rating:
Summary: FOUL!
Review: Don't get me wrong, I GET this movie's message. The problem is ... the message [is bad]. The movie had great promise, great cast, and it took all that greatness and completely crashed and burned. And yes, that is the point, but it honestly went beyond Hollywood cliché. It was something more putrid and disturbing that can only hide its ugliness behind the guise of a Hollywood cliché. The joke is not on the people that didn't get that this movie's point was failure; the joke is on the people that think this movie had some masterful point. People who loved the movie laugh at the 'naïve' people who hated it; meanwhile Kufman is laughing at all the people that think he is making any statement at all! It is [horrible] disguised as cleverness. I am a movie lover, a Meryl lover, and was intensely excited about the release of this film (having loved Kaufman's previous work), yet it was the only movie I have ever seriously wanted to walk out on. Painfully disappointing.
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