Image source

Before I start, I need to point out that Charlie Kaufman actually inserted himself not only as one character but as two, Charlie and Donald Kaufman, twin brothers played by Nicolas Cage. It is very important that everyone realizes this before we go in. This applies to many of the main characters as well.

To make it clear, in the film synopsis, Charlie will only be mentioned as the fictional character in the movie. While, in the parts after that, I will be talking about him as the actual person and screenwriter.

Film Synopsis

The movie is a meta-comedy and drama with a long meditation of longing, obsession, and passion. It also deals with how thin the lines are between those three words.

Charlie Kaufman is a screenwriter tasked with the job of adapting Susan Orlean's book "The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession". A real-life book that the real screenwriter of this movie was tasked with adapting. Confused and overwhelmed by the task, Charlie Kaufman sets his attempt to get the job done while also dealing with his brother, Donald Kaufman, and his passion for screenwriting.

At the same time, we visit Susan Orlean (The character based on the real Susan Orlean and played by Meryl Streep) while dealing with her own problems as she was writing the book. We go through her journey while interviewing and seeking to find the rare Orchid flower with horticulturist John Laroche.

What I Liked About The Movie

Much like other Kaufman films, the characters are hard roles to play. To see Nicolas Cage playing twin brothers in long medium shots is nothing short of fantastic. The movie doesn't resort to quick cuts to make that easier, which makes it all the more impressive. This role might actually be Nicolas Cage's best-ever portrayal.

The performance praise goes to the rest of the cast as well with Meryl Streep obviously giving a great performance and Chris Cooper as well.

The story, while seemingly confusing in writing isn't confusing at all. Kaufman really managed to put together the mess of writing the movie into a cohesive smooth process.

The movie is based on the great book I mentioned above. The book itself, while being a great read, it doesn't translate into a movie. Kaufman managed to bring the meaning of the book, mainly longing, obsession, and passion as we mentioned into this meta-comedy movie. Saying it isn't enough, but, the process of doing that is almost impossible.

The meta part of the movie addresses writing mistakes and processes which shows how a passion can be turned into an obsession in the case of Kaufman and how longing turns into a passion in the case of Susan Orlean, both in the cases of the characters as well as the actual people.

The pacing of the movie is great, you can see the disintegration of each character into a chaotic mess in chasing their obsession and how the result can be overwhelming.

The movie goes from factual to fictional in a rather seamless way so you're able to recognize what's factual and what's fictional easily in case you are aware of the real people resembled in the movie.

What I Didn't Like About The Movie

Honestly, from this movie on, with the exception of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, I won't have a lot of negatives to say.

In this movie, there might be only one. The movie is too self-reflexive. It is almost too meta. It doesn't affect the meaning or the theme of the book so much, however, picking this as the meta aspect to tell the story doesn't offer much to the thing they're creating a meta for.

Simply put, the movie is calling too much attention to itself without justifying that attention aside from the theme.

In Conclusion

The themes of the movie are longing, obsession, and passion, which are derived from the book are fulfilled beautifully. However, despite the brilliant work of turning the book into a movie, the themes aren't deep enough. Still, it provides an amazing journey despite not justifying taking it.

My rating: 8.5/10

The movie will always be enjoyable, even when rewatching it.