Fresh
For two-thirds of its running time the film is close to genius. But there's still no third act.
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Adaptation.
From the creator of Being John Malkovich, comes the story about the creator of Being John Malkovich.
2002 · 1h 55m · R
Comedy, Crime, Drama
Directed by
Spike Jonze
Overview
Charlie Kaufman is a confused L.A. screenwriter overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy, sexual frustration, self-loathing, and by the screenwriting ambitions of his freeloading twin brother Donald. While struggling to adapt "The Orchid Thief," by Susan Orlean, Kaufman's life spins from pathetic to bizarre. The lives of Kaufman, Orlean's book, become strangely intertwined as each one's search for passion collides with the others'.
Director and cast
- Spike Jonze Director
- Nicolas Cage as Charlie/Donald Kaufman
- Meryl Streep as Susan Orlean
- Chris Cooper as John Laroche
- Tilda Swinton as Valerie Thomas
- Cara Seymour as Amelia Kavan
- Ron Livingston as Marty Bowen
- Brian Cox as Robert McKee
- Maggie Gyllenhaal as Caroline Cunningham
- Judy Greer as Alice the Waitress
- Jay Tavare Cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
91%
Tomatometer
Fresh
It's the sort of movie that keeps reinventing itself and nudging us in the ribs as it does. You'll want to see it soon, because everyone you know will be talking about it.
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fresh
Few recent movies have conveyed so forcefully how people can feel shut out by their own lack of passion, how they yearn to end the emptiness.
Peter Rainer, New York Magazine/Vulture
Rotten
Mired in the inertia of Charlie's writer's block, as if the real Kaufman never found his own passion for the material.
Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle
Fresh
One-of-a-kind near-masterpiece.
Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel
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