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FILM COMMENT
November/December 2002
ADAPTATION
By Kent Jones
If one were to say that at heart Adaptation is just another drama of self-actualization, one wouldn't be wrong. Yes, this is another American movie about a self-loathing, unfulfilled hero who unlocks the secret to a happy existence in the end - "It's not who loves you, it's who you love" are the film's watchwords. But what makes Adaptation such a bracing experience, and a more absorbing film than Being John Malkovich, is the way Kaufman and Jonze rewire the standard narrative circuitry. The path they lead us down is very lifelike, with all its mirages of realization withering away in the heat of doubt, its stops and starts, its alluring dead ends and blind wanderings. And its sense of surprise. Which is why this is another one of those don't-read-this-until-after-you've-seen-the-movie articles.
You can read the complete version of this article in the November/December print edition of Film Comment.
