Adaptation is a movie that features one of the most interesting premises recently seen, a film in which the audience watches the movie they are viewing being written. This unique concept, combined with spectacular acting and directing, creates an excellent movie.

Adaptation begins with screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) agreeing to adapt Susan Orlean's book The Orchid Thief for a movie. Charlie soon realizes that the book has very little in the way of a dramatic storyline, and decides to write about his attempts to adapt it. While struggling with his adaptation, Charlie has to tolerate his identical twin brother, Donald (also played by Cage), and his attempts to write a screenplay of his own.

Using intermittent cuts, the movie also follows Orleans as she writes her book, three years before Kaufman begins his adaptation. Orleans writes her book while following John Laroche (Chris Cooper), who steals rare orchids from a Florida nature reserve. While writing, Orlean becomes drawn in by Laroche, and realizes much of the desire in her life has disappeared.

The first two thirds of Adaptation is full of clever and funny dialogue and voiceovers. The self-doubt that rises in Charlie while he is struggling to write his script may not seem like it would be humorous, but his uncertainity results in very funny scenes. The other main source for humor in the film is the contrast between Donald and Charlie, with Charlie's desire to create a movie that is not plot-driven often coming in conflict with Donald's lack of reservations of using every movie cliché available.

The last third of Adaptation differs drastically from the rest of the film. Everything that Charlie tries to avoid while writing his movie, such as drugs, sex, and violence, suddenly begin to appear. While this change of content seems to be an attempt to address underlying messages about adaptation or an attempt to be ironic, the ending of the movie seems disjointed and almost too different from the beginning of the movie to fit in. This inharmonious ending does not take away from the movie too much, however, for the movie has other strong points, such as the acting and directing.

The acting in Adaptation is phenomenal. Cage plays characters with identical appearances, but plays them so effectively that they can always be distinguished from one another. Streep is very convincing as an intellectual who is sucked in by a more passionate world, and Cooper establishes a very compelling character in Laroche, who is both despicable for his arrogance and likeable for his simpleness.

The directing is also well done. Having a movie in which the audience watches the script of the movie they are watching being written could easily becoming confusing, but director Spike Jonze does not let this happen. Jonze, who also directed the slightly less than ordinary Being John Malkovich, manages to ensure that the scenes, which cut between Charlie, his imagination, and Orlean, are always clear.

Adaptation is a unique movie that contains many clever moments and portrays the feelings and yearnings of its characters very well, allowing it to overcome an odd ending.

Adaptation, 114 min., is rated R for language, sexuality, some drug use and violent images. It is now playing in several area theaters. Official site:
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/adaptation