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Adaptation.

Adaptation.

2002
Drama
1h 55m
The lives of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, author Susan Orlean and orchid poacher John Laroche become strangely intertwined as each one's search for passion collides with the others' in this adaptation of the best-selling "The Orchid Thief."
Your probable score
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Adaptation.

2002
Drama
1h 55m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 67.33% from 8948 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(8948)
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Rated 12 Dec 2011
94
98th
People made a big deal about Nolan's dream within a dream within a dream. That however is amateur shit compared to Kaufman's movie writer on a movie set in a movie within a movie about a movie writer writing the movie that is in the movie that is the movie that you are watching.
Rated 31 Mar 2008
96
99th
The way this is structured is so insanely clever, having Donald write the last act is such a stroke of genius and nicely reinforces the themes of the movie. Cage doesn't ham it up and actually becomes amazing as the two Kaufmans. Hell, everyone is amazing in this. Sad, stimulating and witty, and very rewatchable.
Rated 03 Mar 2007
10
98th
If you get the chance, listen to Charlie Kauffman talk about how he thought of this movie, it's hilarious. It's also incredibly original, witty, and fun. All the leads are great and Maggie Gyllenhaal's 5 minutes of screen time were sweet.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
99
99th
This movie is the pinnacle of writing, and has so many layers of emotions and characters smashing into each other that it's very difficult to not become overwhelmed. Filled with wonderful life epiphanies and great acting, and, best of all, is so gripping because it's so real and personal, and not pretentious. Charlie Kaufman was nominated for a Best Screenplay Award for a movie he wrote about (loosely) failing to write a screenplay.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
88
74th
Gloriously self-referential, wickedly creative, and very funny.
Rated 08 Jan 2007
100
99th
Charlie Kaufman takes the idea that every desperate screenwriter wants to use and makes it unique, adapting The Orchid Thief in a way that's true to the original themes. Heartbreaking and hilarious at the same time. A true masterwork.
Rated 10 Apr 2007
96
99th
My personal favorite script of all time. Spike Jonze handles it extremely well and we're rewarded with a movie unlike any other. Good things happen when artists challenge themselves and I'm grateful that Kaufman took on the challenge of adapting Susan Orlean's book.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
82
85th
Fascinating and clever meditation on the nature of writing. Kaufman's script is delightfully intricate, the way the story unfolds is brilliant and satisfying.
Rated 09 Nov 2007
89
90th
Kaufman does magic with his scripts. He leads movie-making into whole new territories. Amazing stuff.
Rated 10 May 2017
90
97th
One of kind. A great cast at the top of their game (probably Nicolas Cage's two best performances) and an amazing script from Charlie Kaufman who gives an incredibly unflattering portrayal of himself in his writing and, also with gusto, goes meta on Hollywood's ass. I find the fact that his fake twin brother Donald was also nominated for an Oscar really awesome.
Rated 28 Jan 2007
5
98th
In less competent hands the set-up of this film could have gone horribly awry, but it's handled (nearly) perfectly.
Rated 01 Feb 2007
90
92nd
Chris Cooper's performance was breathtaking. One moment passionate and manic, the next quiet, trying to suppress old demons. I loved it.
Rated 19 Feb 2007
49
12th
This movie loves itself so much I want to leave it alone with a bottle of hand cream and a tissue.
Rated 01 Mar 2007
95
98th
Kaufman strikes again with this mindfuck movie about....Kaufman...trying to write this mindfuck movie. Great script, great commentary on the nature of movies, and a really entertaining movie despite its boring sounding content. Kaufman is one of the few people in the film industry that I have no problem applying the term genius to. His scripts are so unique, so bizarre, yet seriously meaningful and powerful at the same time, and this movie is probably my favorite example of that.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
95
95th
fantastic, a marvelous exercise in the power of structure and allegory. A literature major's dream (that's me)
Rated 14 Aug 2007
95
94th
I can't think of any aspiring writer out there who has seen this movie and not been able to relate to it, and it's simply one of my favorite movies for that reason.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
85
84th
Laugh-out-loud funny, and peppered with some genuinely intriguing makes-ya-think moments. I won't say I loved this movie, but I really really liked it.
Rated 03 Sep 2009
91
94th
The story of how this movie got made is great, and it lives up to it. A brilliant cast - Cooper's Oscar was well-deserved, and Cage/Streep are both great - and hilarious script, and one of the most well-directed car collision scenes I've ever seen.
Rated 27 Aug 2010
97
99th
Some films want you to get lost in their story -- this one begs you to look beneath the surface. Watching this film while boggling at how Kaufman/Jonze intertwine the layers of reality is one of my favorite movie-watching experiences. Even better was hearing some of the comments from other moviegoers who clearly weren't along for the whole ride -- "It was slow at first, but picked up toward the end!" Wow.
Rated 20 Sep 2010
91
98th
Another brilliant script from Kaufman is made better by the solid turn from Streep, and the amazing one from Cooper. Cage is ultimately fine in the twin roles and for once the funny hair is a valid piece of the story. Does anyone else really wish "The 3" would be made? :)
Rated 04 Dec 2006
97
93rd
Greatest screenplay ever and a wonderful movie. One of the most original films ever made, hail Charlie Kaufman.
Rated 08 Jan 2007
98
98th
umm...brilliant Charlie Kaufman. Unlike any other film ever make. When Nick Cage makes a great movie, he makes a GREAT movie.
Rated 03 Mar 2007
85
89th
One of the best movies about the creative process of narration. Outstanding performances from its practically flawless cast.
Rated 04 Mar 2007
86
74th
Tiresome, annoying, meta and recommendable.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
100
99th
A piece of inspired cinematic brilliance. Edgy and satirical. It breaks the fourth wall every minute, but the film is so great that the audience doesn't even realize that they're being fooled. An absolutely necessary work of self-indulgence for Kaufman.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
90
85th
Funny, tragic, clever. In Being John Malkovich, Kaufman's writing was sometimes too gimmicky, but that's rarely the case here. Nicolas Cage does a good job and Meryl Streep is as good as always.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
30
15th
A hollow postmodernist experiment, wrapped around a cheap, hackneyed storyline.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
96
93rd
An atounding film with so many intriguing levels that is also a smart and scathing Hollywood film.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
75
64th
Interesting and occasionally hilarious movie with great style. Nicolas Cage gives the best performance of his career. Great ending.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
98
96th
One of our endearing classics. So much love, pain, hope and sadness encaptulated within Kaufman's prose. Is a richer, more rewarding experience every time.
Rated 09 Sep 2007
90
98th
One of the best screenplays ever written. How good? It fooled me into thinking Nic Cage was awesome.
Rated 29 Dec 2007
94
90th
The tagline for this really should be 'We wrote this during a bout of writer's block. Also, Nicholas Cage can act'. A tender look at the dark side of screenwriting with a breathtaking performance from the leading man. Absolutely essential for all those crazy enough to take up a career in writing.
Rated 17 Apr 2009
90
97th
Possibly the best screenplay ever written. Fuck, there's so much to say about this movie, but I'll just tell you that it's amazing and that you should watch it.
Rated 03 Jun 2009
91
89th
Another excellently written movie from Kaufman, delving into his own psyche and frustrations (though really he does this with most of his scripts, it's just a hundred times less subtle here). Cage is great playing Kaufman and his "twin" and the rest of the cast play their parts extremely well. I kept getting reminded of Tristram Shandy and Synecdoche, New York throughout this movie and I wish I'd seen this movie before Synecdoche, building up to that one. Hindsight and all that.
Rated 01 Aug 2009
89
95th
Utterly brilliant and by far Nic Cage's best film. The delicate and engaging plot is wonderfully played out by Jonze to its fantastic conclusion. The whole cast are excellent, particuarly Cage, who is a joy to watch when he tries and isn't playing up in some retarded action bollocks. Totally mesmerising from the first second to the last.
Rated 28 Aug 2009
95
97th
This is an amazing movie. An intellectually enjoyable puzzlebox that folds in on itself and meditates on the many meanings of adaptation (Darwinian, filmed books, psychological, etc.). Fun, fun, fun. Smart, smart, smart. And mr. Nicolas Cage does an excellent job playing two brothers.
Rated 15 Nov 2009
90
93rd
Just when you had given up on Nicolas Cage, he delivers a career best as himself and his twin brother. This is meta-meta-meta-bonanza from Kaufman and Jonze, almost to the point of it being a technical exercise. Still, it's as smart as anything out there, it's great fun and if anything can shake the mental image of Cage screaming "How'd't'getburned?!" - this would be it.
Rated 31 Mar 2010
90
94th
Not really a review, but I had a class taught by Susan Orlean and she never once talked about Adaptation.. Kind of made me wonder if she didn't appreciate being portrayed as drug-addict-cheating-whore.
Rated 01 Jun 2010
92
93rd
Rather than directly adapting Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief, Charlie Kaufman opts to write a script in which he writes about himself fantasizing about having sex with Susan Orlean. The film is too self-deprecating for one to call it pretentious, and it's too self-aware for one to call it cliche. It's probably the most original visual dissertation on Hollywood screenwriting that you will ever witness. (It's also about flowers.)
Rated 02 Oct 2010
96
97th
Having read 'The Orchid Thief' just before seeing the film, I see Kaufman's handling of the idea of adaptation as a beautiful homage to the pyschological nature of Orleans' narrative journalism. It also serves as a second-hand guide to the cult of Orchid hunters - rather than just the 'movie version' of the book. Nicolas Cage is unforgettable in a challenging role as the Kaufman 'twins,' but Chris Cooper steals the show, bringing Laroche to life exactly the way I had imagined him in the text.
Rated 03 Jan 2011
100
93rd
What can I say, Kaufman's a genius!
Rated 28 Feb 2011
89
84th
The strangest adaptation of a book ever, about the fictional adaption of the book this movie was supposedly adapting. Not a great adaptation, but a great original screenplay about truth.
Rated 02 Jan 2012
80
95th
"I'm saying I don't want to...cram in sex or guns or car chases. You know, or characters...learning profound life lessons, or...coming to like each other or overcoming obstacles to succeed in the end. The book isn't like that...and life isn't like that. It just isn't."
Rated 04 Jan 2012
100
96th
This screenplay is an absolute masterpiece. I can't think of a single thing that I don't like about this one. Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze should make movies together forever. If I were to ever teach a class on film, this would be the number one movie to show.
Rated 24 Jan 2012
80
88th
The many faces of Nicolas Cage. This movie is essentially a remake of Wes Craven's New Nightmare, but with flowers instead of Freddy.
Rated 10 Mar 2012
88
95th
Very enjoyable. Kaufman does a great job (as usual) and Cage gives his most enjoyable performance portraying Kaufman and his fictional twin. Add to that a couple of excellent supporting roles by Cooper and Streep and good direction by Jonze and you've got a very good film. I loved how the film was simultaneously funny, dramatic, sad. The sheer abruptness of some of the more darker parts really highlighted the effect on the film's characters.
Rated 29 Mar 2012
93
98th
One of the most clever, funny and interesting movies I have ever seen
Rated 19 Feb 2013
50
49th
A screwy movie that switches from the present to a story being written, but reality gets mixed up with the writers story. Nicholas Cage plays two roles at the same time. This movie is interesting, but so very confusing. The plot points are not very believable and some are simply absurd. I oscillated between liking it and not, almost from one minute to the next. It is hard to completely dismiss it, since it is very odd and worth watching if only for that, but nothing was particularly great.
Rated 19 Oct 2013
100
99th
Outstanding, loopy meditation on existence and the Hollywood system, fired by an impeccably chosen cast, headed by Cage, Cooper and Streep who all bring extraordinary dimensions to their oddball characters. Dizzying mix of fantasy and reality, combined with clever plotting (and twisting of the plot, and twisting of the twists) makes for a unique, one-of-a-kind experience.
Rated 23 Dec 2021
90
92nd
The last act is a thing of beauty -- both changing the tone of the film to fit McKee's principles while also breaking those same principles. We need more man butts in movies. Thanks, Chris Cooper.
Rated 25 Dec 2006
95
93rd
Kaufman does it again.
Rated 30 Dec 2006
90
96th
A brilliant, pomo, meta, whatever you want to call it, piece of cinema that I can't quite describe.
Rated 17 Feb 2007
70
18th
Kaufman's script is very cleverly constructed, as expected. But this time it doesn't really work for me. Feels forced, doesn't have the natural flow of "Malkovich".
Rated 26 Feb 2007
90
99th
An absolutely intriguing piece of filmmaking, with excellent performances all aorund, but especially from Streep (surprise!) and Cooper.
Rated 04 Mar 2007
95
98th
I got dirty looks in the theater when I was laughing at the end of this movie
Rated 05 Mar 2007
60
62nd
Probably deserves another viewing, but the cleverness here seemed a little laboured. Perhaps its greatest service was to spread the imperative against saying "industry".
Rated 01 May 2007
100
98th
Genius.
Rated 10 May 2007
87
83rd
Tremendously funny, wickedly clever.
Rated 12 May 2007
95
99th
9+ amazing :: How daunting. it's enough to make someone give up on their story about a story and the person writing that story. I'm completely serious.
Rated 18 May 2007
93
95th
It's about what you can expect from a movie directed by Spike Jonze, written by Charlie Kaufman, starring Nicolas Cage.
Rated 22 Jun 2007
99
98th
I. Love. this film.
Rated 29 Jun 2007
70
82nd
This movie was really good, it was something that was never done before and it had a great soundtrack to it. Good movie this one was.
Rated 09 Jul 2007
5
96th
I thought this film was really creative and the unconventional narrative structure makes it engaging and enjoyable. I typically dislike Nicolas Cage, but he's actually funny and likeable in this film.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
90
96th
Meta filmmaking sums it up. A movie about a writer who can't figure out a way to end a movie without stupid Hollywood cliches, that itself ends in Hollywood cliches. Perfect.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
95
85th
Spike Jonze and Nick Cage? Why, whodathunk!?!?!?
Rated 14 Aug 2007
50
39th
Floundering & kind of dumb.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
95
95th
I love this movie even a little more than Eternal Sunshine... because it had me in laughing fits most of the way through, and at the same time I really bought these ridiculous characters, mostly due to outstanding performances from all involved. And the ending is sheer brilliance.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
89
86th
One of the cleverest scripts I've seen for a long time. I notice something new whenever I see this movie.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
50
30th
The best part was the car accident. Cage should seriously hang it up.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
100
90th
Kaufman's best
Rated 14 Aug 2007
90
83rd
Great acting. Cool storyline.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
83
61st
I really was not expecting anything that happened in this movie, it being my first Charlie Kaufman experience. Also, I think it is the only movie Nicolas Cage has been in that I enjoyed.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
92
81st
charlie kaufman is a great screenwriter.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
65
38th
A film that wants to have its cake and eat it too. It wants to out-Hollywood Hollywood, which is an ambitious and admirable project, but it fails by pretty much just becoming Hollywood.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
86
59th
Brilliant in parts, but too consumed in its own idiosyncracies.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
89
87th
A fantastically deep script, really clever and interesting with Nicholas Cade playing both the scriptwriter and his fictional twin brother, it's another Kaufman masterpiece.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
95
81st
Spectacular, clever, keen, cool, original and very orchidy with a bloody brilliant N. Cage in a double role.
Rated 18 Aug 2007
79
44th
Did not like this as much as many others, but Charlie Kaufmann script is original and smart.
Rated 24 Aug 2007
94
95th
This movie is just brilliant.
Rated 16 Sep 2007
90
98th
Brilliant, well acted, and exciting film.
Rated 11 Nov 2007
100
96th
Profoundly moving & very well acted/directed.
Rated 02 Feb 2008
92
92nd
A fantastic film with breathtaking performances from the entire cast, especially Cage. Cage's greatest performance. A very personal look at the genius of Charlie Kaufman. A lot of writer's can relate to the struggles he goes through. Very effective, hilarious, and just downright amazing.
Rated 27 Feb 2008
100
98th
Perfect.
Rated 29 Mar 2008
95
98th
I just love Kaufmann's scripts!
Rated 15 May 2008
85
72nd
Loved the scene where they try to make the dial tone. Great move.
Rated 17 May 2008
90
97th
A simply wonderful idea for a movie with some truly a-list performances.
Rated 01 Jun 2008
95
88th
Soooo great
Rated 16 Jun 2008
100
99th
The movie that changed how I look at movies. I haven't quite been the same since I saw this.
Rated 21 Jun 2008
100
98th
An awesome mind-fuck of a movie! Spike Jonze, Charlie Kaufman, and Nicholas Cage knock this one out of the park with amazing performances by Chris Cooper and Meryl Streep! If you can keep up with the plots and characters and realize Adaptation is really a story-within-a-story you'll easily see just how fucking brilliant this movie really is!
Rated 29 Jun 2008
98
98th
Yes! I can't believe I found this in the discount bin! This movie makes me consider life in a different light... Not to mention, the movie in essence details the writing of the movie as it goes, and I love complexity like that.
Rated 27 Aug 2008
95
96th
The apex of Charlie Kauffman's career, and a must for any true movie afficiando or writer. Brilliantly layered, expertly acted, and a strong vaildation of what writing is all about. Funny, too.
Rated 26 Sep 2008
80
65th
Not exactly as great as I once thought, but still a very good movie.
Rated 23 Oct 2008
3
18th
Seriously people. This is an empty movie. It practically echoes.
Rated 31 Oct 2008
98
98th
My life on film. On film.
Rated 09 Dec 2008
95
89th
Equally as well done as Being John Malkovich in every way. More original than pretty much every film ever made.
Rated 30 Dec 2008
92
95th
I love the film scripting ideas of Charlie Kaufman. He constructs scripts that can only exist as film. This is a great satire of the film industry and writing process.
Rated 15 Jan 2009
60
18th
Barf.. don't like this Kaufman movie sorry, it screams "Hey look at me guys I'm clever.. hey aren't I clever!!" which is a shame because there are some great scenes in this.
Rated 18 Feb 2009
95
98th
Nicholas Cage shows once and for all that he's a great actor (when he wants to be).
Rated 21 Feb 2009
95
99th
This film is just one beautiful mess. Characters are a quirky and exaggerated (partly fictional) band of misfits, story takes a u-turn at the end and it's all rendered through Kaufman's anxiety-ridden brain ... but for some magical reason it works just perfectly.
Rated 13 Apr 2009
33
1st
i havent seen it completely but its boooring for me

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