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!
