Rating: 
Summary: Pure Cinema Brilliance.......and Yes, The Ending IS GOOD!
Review: Adaptation is brilliant. I don't toss that phrase around to describe films unless it is absolutely needed. Here, it is needed. Excellent acting, directing, and screenplay to boot, I truly believe that Adaptation is the best film of 2002. Nick Cage is outstanding as the Kauffman twins. You always know which twin is which because each has a different way of speaking, and their body movements are each unique. That is only a few of the reasons why Cage is so good in this. Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper are perfect for their roles. As usual, Streep easily fits into character. It is also hard to imagine anyone playing LaRouche after seeing Cooper's performance. Nicely done. The direction and screenplay are flawless. The screenplay is the standout in all of this brilliance. Everything is wonderfully twisted and full of excellence. Finally, on the topic of the "third act", as it is called. Many reviews believe this ruins the film, but I strongly disagree. It only strengthens points of the characters and the plot that is a satire on hollywood. It could not be better. All in all, see this film! Thanks for reading.
Rating: 
Summary: one small gripe (major gripe, if you view it that way)
Review: First of all, LOVED this movie...one of the very, very best of the year (but then, I loved Being John Malkovich and this is very much in the same vein). But this Superbit [stuff] really gets my goat! I can understand that DVD lovers may want to see an epic with incredible special effects (think, Lord of the Rings) on special Superbit technology, but ADAPTATION? The visuals didn't exactly make the story! Furthermore, Adaptation is just screaming out for extras...it's an intellectual head-trip of a movie and there could be all kinds of fascinating background stuff...but NO!!! First we have to be suckered into buying THIS version before they will put out a ..., "special edition" down the road.... It's such a marketing ploy. I mean, here I sit wishing to own Adaptation, a movie I would love to watch over and over again (and probably pick up new things each time), and the marketers KNOW that I will pay the money now, and then again later when they add the bonus features. It just leaves me with a bad taste (Why not put out both versions now and let people choose? Oh, I know why....$$$$) Anyway, great film.
Rating: 
Summary: Twistily Brilliant, but....
Review: Although wonderfully post-modern and strikingly original for most of the 'inter-text', I waded through the patently dissapointing last twenty minutes with all the eye-rolling zeal I would assign to my forcible snared watching of the soporific raison d'etre of an episode of "Ripleys Prime Time" - these blasted twenty little minutes completely undermine and ruin this mostly vitriolically playful, teasingly caustic film by attempting a number of 'serious resonances'. Shame on them.
Rating:
Summary: Another Great extraordinary film!!!!
Review: It seems to me as if Nicolas Cage has a talent to pick great roles. I have never seen a movie that came close to Adaptation, a movie writen by Charlie Kaufmann the same writer from Being John Malkovich. It approaches a different aspect then most films do... the movie is about Charlie Kaufmann trying to figure out how to write a great screenplay about a book callled Orchids which was writen by the character that Maryl Streep plays. This film has two stories going on at the same time which in the end will collide. Charlie Kaufmann is a rare and antithetical guy who cannot express his feelings to a girl that he loves and is furious that his twin brother gets film deals over ridiculous story lines that make no sense, and all at the same time he is trying to write a screenplay about a boring book called Orchids that has no exciting parts to it. The other story handles of Meryl Streeps character when she was writing the book Orchids that Charlie is writing about. She meets this unusual guy that is looking for a particular orchid that is very rare and decides to take Meryl strip on the journey while she writes the book. This film might sound boring but when you sit down and put this film in your DVD player you won't be dissapointed! Nicolas Cage portrays Charlie Kaufmann in a way i don't even think Charlie Kaufmann could do it better himself, not to mention that Meryl Streep also did a great job. This is a film that i will guarantee many people will enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: An extended middle finger pointed right at Hollywood
Review: Back in 1999, Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman's Being John Malkovich was released to the delight and bewilderment of many. It was a brilliant, clever, original, hilarious, audacious movie that stood out in a year full of great movies. Three years later, came Adaptation from the same writer and director. Who would have guessed that with their follow-up, the Jonze-Kaufman team would manage to top Being John Malkovich? Yes, Adaptation is even more brilliant, clever, original, hilarious and audacious. If you're someone who appreciates those aspects, Adaptation will delight you to death. However, mainstream audiences will probably be left scratching their heads. Adaptation is an absolute joy of a film. The mastery of the possibilities of the arts of film and screenwriting that are on display here are positively exhilirating. Numerous times during this film, I just grinned from ear to ear at how clever and ingenious the film is. I really don't want to get into more detail. To describe the most brilliant aspects of the film beforehand would deprive part of the joy of seeing it. You really must see it for yourself. Charlie Kaufman has structured the film wonderfully. It manages to be so many things at the same time. It's an adaptation of Susan Orlean's book, it's a story of a frustrated screenwriter, it's a tale of hopes and obsession, and most importantly it's a giant in-joke at the expense of mainstream Hollywood. Comparisons to Fellini's 8 1/2 are not unfounded, and there are definite similarities, but I don't think that Adaptation is as personal a statement as 8 1/2. Charlie Kaufman is more interested in the potential of his screenwriting and seeing what he can accomplish with the unrelated stories of a screenwriter and a journalist. Having just recently seen the film a second time, I feel that I've gotten a bit more out of it than the first. Adaptation is a film that you really have to invest in. You have to really put some thought into it. It's certainly not a film that you can take at face value. It's a complex film, with layers of layers of subtext and demands to be seen more than once. With each viewing, you'll begin to understand it better and better. Nicolas Cage is wonderful here. His performance is completely convincing. You never doubt for a moment that there are really twins on screen together. Chris Cooper is excellent as John Laroche, probably the movie's most interesting character. I'm very pleased that he won the Oscar for this role. Adaptation must truly be one of the best films of 2002. It has been one of the most enjoyable and rewarding movie-viewing experiences, I've had in a long time. See it more than once and let it forever alter your perspective on Hollywood films. By the way, for anyone who didn't quite "get" Adaptation, the screenwriting credit is a blatant clue.
Rating:
Summary: For once, a movie you don't mind being too clever.
Review: "Adaptation" is slightly too self-absorbed, but it is heartfelt -- a deep, honest, funny, moving account of how we see ourselves in our lives. Here is a movie that celebrates change, and resists the notion that "we are who we are" or we are whatever someone tells us to be. There are thousands of movies that use that phrase, or a similar one, in the screenplay; "Adaptation" is a two-and-a-half film that proves it true. The performances are outstanding and the ride is unpredictable and hilarious. Charlie Kauffman's screenplay really does earn those tears at the end of the movie; it's hard to believe that he's poking deliberate fun but offering a profound lesson at the same time, but there you have it. "Adaptation" works on three or four levels, each satisfying in its own right. Spike Jonze is quite a young director for his ability to simply fade into the background. Visually, this movie is strikingly different from "Being John Malkovich," but Jonze has an amazing command. He's extremely good with actors to boot, and Nic Cage is back in the kind of goofy, sincere roles he used to nail before an Oscar in "Leaving Las Vegas" somehow turned him into an action junkie. Meryl Streep just flat out acts her tail off, covering the entire rainbow of gestures and behaviors. And Chris Cooper' burrows deep into his character until he simply is John LaRoche. "Adaptation" is funnier upon second and third viewings -- it's simply too good a mystery the first time to distract yourself too much with big laughs. The "message" loses a little steam, however, in subsequent viewings as well; the more "Adaptation" becomes a clever comedy, the more you see the gears turning, the more manufactured the emotions seem. But no matter. That first, virgin viewing of this movie is one I'll never forget. It entertained and moved me on all the important levels.
Rating:
Summary: If you didn't like the ending, or haven't seen it...
Review: I know this has probably been said before, but, reading a few disparaging reviews, I think its worth repeating.
I saw this movie in the theaters, went with mixed expectations, and thought in fact that the first part of the movie sort of dragged- before the second half twisted and turned in on itself in a -hilarious- fashion. Yes, I said -hilarious-. I was laughing out loud throughout much of the film's final twenty-thirty minutes.
So, if you think this is a movie you would like to see but don't always have the best record of "active watching," here's your hint: pay -very close attention- to the mental state of the main character, Charlie Kaufman, throughout the entire film. Don't forget who's doing the writing and what is that they're writing. The second half of the movie is an ironic twist predicated on the preceding consideration. And its fantastic. Maybe my favorite film of 2002. Oh, and if you don't like irony, whatever you do, do not see this film.
Rating:
Summary: Cage is Back to the 'Strange' Comedy Business....
Review: Directed by Spike Jones (Being John Malkovich) and starring Nicholas Cage (Raising Arizona), this film is the semi-autobiographical story of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and the trials and tribulations of writing a film during the production of Being John Malkovich. It's a brilliant 'foray' into the mind of a troubled writer who wants to write an art piece and not succumb to the commercialism of Hollywood. The film starts humbly enough with the self-loathing Charlie trying to deal with writing a new script. He is watching his own twin brother try his hand at writing more commercial trash and all the while, 'Donald' is pestering him for advice. The film takes off from there with some pretty humorous situations writers and non-writers can appreciate about the general pressures and insecurities that we all have. Although the film degrades into darkness, the ending is lifting but not exactly the way you think....go see it! *****stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Bonus features ?
Review: A brilliant film which is surely crying out for a Special Edition treatment. Are the studio planning to release another version once we have all placed our orders? Why no announcement either way? I would love to buy this film on DVD but I'm not interested in this "vanilla" Superbit release.
Rating:
Summary: A Rare Treat
Review: A story within a story, Adaptation is a rare treat inside screenwriter Charlie Kaufman's talented yet tormented mind as he attempts to carve out a screenplay from Susan Orlean's publication, The Orchid Thief. Her book, while an intriguing true account of botanical expert John Laroche who collaborates with Seminole Indians in Florida to exploit rare ghost orchids, apparently doesn't have enough of a storyline to translate to the big screen. Kaufman and director Spike Jonze take us through Charlie's own mental gymnastics by offsetting his character with a fictional twin brother Donald, who is a less talented but more pragmatic screenwriter, and by brilliantly interweaving pieces from Orlean's original story. Nicholas Cage gives one of his finest and most convincing performances as twin brothers Charlie and Donald. He descends deeply into their minds and souls in order to capture the fine yet distinct differences in their approaches both to screenwriting and to life. Cage is more than aptly supported by Meryl Streep, who as Susan Orlean transitions brilliantly from understated writer to an equally tormented soul of Kaufman's imagination and by Chris Cooper, who as John Laroche gives us a healthy dose of someone unwavering and a bit unsavory in his motivations. The juxtaposition of these characters is what drives Kaufman to the brink of insanity and ultimately this film to its lofty heights. Stephen Rodman
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