Search
Subscribe to the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere else you find your favorite podcasts!

Support The Next Reel Family of Film Podcasts • Learn More or Subscribe Now: Monthly $5/mo or Annual $55/yr

Adaptation.

“I wonder who's gonna play me? Someone not too fat. I liked that Gerard Depardieu, but can he not do the accent? Anyway, it's done. And that's something."

It’s the second collaboration between director Spike Jonze and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, and it’s another brilliant film to talk about. This time, it’s 2002’s Adaptation. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we continue our Charlie Kaufman series with this cute, cliché, self-referential, meta film.

We talk about how the self-referential nature of the film works and how unique it is by creating the two sides of Kaufman’s personality by not only writing himself into the novel adaption but also creating a fictional twin brother for himself. We talk about how the brilliant the performances are, from Nicolas Cage to Chris Cooper to Meryl Streep. We talk about the nature of writers writing themselves into their own works, referencing Hunter S. Thompson as one example. We talk about what the real Susan Orlean, the author of the novel on which the movie is “based,” thought of how she was written into the film. And we chat about all the clichés that spring to life in the 3rd act, yet how it all works well because of the introduction of them earlier when the character Kaufman gets advice from screenwriting guru Robert McKee, played brilliantly by Brian Cox. We have a great time talking about this film.  Listen in!

Film Sundries

A show about movies and how they connect.

When the movie ends, our conversation begins. We love movies. We’ve been talking about them, one movie a week, since 2011. It’s a lot of movies, that’s true, but we’re passionate about origins and performance, directors and actors, themes and genres, and so much more. So join the community and let’s hear about your favorite movies, too.
Scroll To Top