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72%
Overall Rating
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Ranked #856
...out of 15,333 movies
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Frequently cynical screenwriter Charlie Kaufman has just taken on a new assignment. That is, to adapt writer Susan Orlean's "The Orchid Thief" into a screenplay, all of it based on the life of the eccentric John Laroche, an exotic plant collector based out of Florida. While his easygoing twin brother Donald, is writing scripts with ease, Charlie finds himself on a perpetual struggle that never seems to end.
--IMDb
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A drama and a comedy into one movie. Sure it's been done before, but it doesn't work too well in this film. One moment the two brothers will be ragging on each other, the next will be them running through a swamp trying to stay alive. As I'm on the subject of the two brothers, both of them being played by Cage was very dull and unoriginal. Thankfully his acting talent arose from some of his previous films (Windtalkers, Family Man, Gone in Sixty Seconds, just to name a few). Maggie Gyllenhaal makes appearances in this as Donald's girlfriend, the typical ditzy broad, that Gyllenhaal plays off nicely.
The story itself was based on a book entitled "The Orchid Thief." I've never read the book so I would not be able to put it against the movie. But continuing on, the story taken from this book was very interesting. It jumped from book scenes and movie scenes through out the whole movie. Which I enjoyed because it got me interested enough in the book story, then switch to the other and would get even more interesting. This carried on through out the whole movie until the last minutes where the two stories collided together.
Not a fast passed movie, nor a slow one. It keeps you interested enough to watch it all the way through. Even though all the main stars could have tried a little harder on their lines, it was much better than most of the newer movies out there going for the 'drama/comedy' genre. So if you enjoyed the film "Being John Malkovich" you may want to pick up this movie.
Grade: 7/10
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#1:
crazyloca5678
- added 08/03/2004, 11:49 PM
This movie was so twisted but understandable and
NIcolas Cage did a wonderful job.
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#2:
Saiteron
- added 04/01/2008, 08:05 AM
I thought this movie was really complex and
difficult to understand, but if you put forth the
effort to try and understand it completely, it's a
brilliant movie (I, as a film student, kind of had
to put forth that effort).
On the
surface, it appears to be just a movie adapted
from a book, but the movie ends up making very
little sense. It jumps abruptly from the story of
Charlie Kaufman and his difficulties in writing
his screenplay, he and his twin brother arguing
about what should happen next, to them in the
swamp, a chase scene, and a Hollywood ending. My
initial reaction was something along the lines of
"What the hell?" but after thinking about it, I
realized what the film really did. The closest I
can come to explaining it without spoiling the
movie is to say watch it again if you didn't get
it the first time. It's a brilliant movie, with a
lot going on, both plot-wise and editing-wise. The
premise of the movie is incredibly intelligent and
unique -- if you can understand it.
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#3:
bluemeanie
- added 04/01/2008, 10:11 AM
You are absolutely making the film seem more
complicated that it was. "Adaptation" is not
difficult to understand if you pay attention.
It's quite obvious what the film is doing towards
the end of the picture. Making it seem that
complicated might turn people off from seeing it,
and it shouldn't -- "Adaptation" is no more
difficult to understand than anything else out
there -- you just have to pay a fractions more
attention. 10/10. Modern day masterpiece.
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