Adaptation (R, 2003)

"Adaptation." is one of those movies that confounds you with its cleverness. When you see it, you appreciate it. That night before you go to bed, you love it. Then, in the days that follow (as the many hidden moments of genius in Charlie Kaufman's screenplay begin to hit you)it dawns on you: "Adaptation." just might be the most profound film you've ever seen. Part of what makes it works is that it knows this. It understands its profundity and then mocks others', and somehow works. It examines the very existence of being and evolution (with some clever references to Charles Darwin as well as some beautifully rendered monologues about life that never once come across as heavy-handed), the media, and the very depths of human nature. The adaptation metaphor is brilliant. Meryl Streep (always wonderful) is outstandingly good here, as she plays an incredibly difficult, complex woman who seems to be one thing but is in fact something entirely different. But perhaps the film's crowning achievement is making me enjoy a performance by Nicolas Cage. Anyone that knows me knows that I cannot have a conversation without verbally beating the man to an unrecognizable pulp. But here, playing two brothers (or are they the same man?), he shines. His ability to create two distinctly different characters in multiple scenes where they share the screen is beyond admirable. It's brilliant. As is "Adaptation.". Charlie Kaufman is simply the best writer of our time; let's all just forget that we ever saw "Synecdoche, New York." (CONTENT: Scenes of drug use; though the drug I believe to be fictional. Sex has at least a yellow flag, with inexplicit but fairly frequent scenes or discussions. Language isn't horrible, but it's definitely earned it's "R" rating. Violence, while fleeting, is very intense and jarring, especially at the end; though that scene may induce more laughter than anything else).