Adaptation

This navel-gazing, behind-the-scenes dark comedy got its start as a commission for Oscar-nominated screenwriter Charlie Kaufman to pen a film from Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief, a true tale about the misfiring conservation philosophies of a real Florida flower poacher. But in the process Kaufman wrote himself and Orlean into the story, creating the most ingenious cinematic cerebellum-bender of 2002. Shaped by the innovative hands of director Spike Jonze (Kaufman's Being John Malkovich collaborator) from Orlean's book and the screenwriter's infinite insecurity, the film stars Nicolas Cage in a dexterously goosey performance as the madly insecure Kaufman and his fictional alter-ego, a vulgar, crass, freeloading nitwit twin brother who fancies himself a screenwriter too. Meryl Streep (as Orlean) and Oscar winner Chris Cooper (as the swamp-trash orchid poacher) nimbly navigate many gossamer layers of this weird fact and fiction amalgam, building authentic, affecting characters while providing esoteric reminders that they are born of Kaufman's poetic license (where Kaufman's real-life devotion to The Orchid Thief ends and his fiction begins is anybody's guess). A work of outstanding, brilliant originality, this is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (R. Blackwelder)