Rating: R
Genre:
Comedy Drama
Theatrical Release: 01/10/2002(USA),
Release Date: 05/20/2003
SubTitles: English/French
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: DD5.1/DTS/DDS
Run Time: 115 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Not For Children, Adult Language, Sexual Situations, Drug Content
Distributor/Studio: Columbia TriStar
The creative team behind
Being John Malkovich -- director
Spike Jonze and screenwriter
Charlie Kaufman -- return with this equally offbeat
comedy, in which
Kaufman himself becomes the leading character.
Charlie Kaufman (
Nicolas Cage) is a gifted but profoundly neurotic screenwriter who, after the success of
Being John Malkovich, has been hired to write a script adapted from the nonfiction book
The Orchid Thief by
Susan Orlean. But while
Charlie is obsessive about his work, he's also intensely paranoid, given to deep depression, socially inept, and terrified of talking to women, qualities which are making it difficult to get on with his work or hold on to his tenuous relationship with girlfriend
Amelia (
Cara Seymour). Meanwhile,
Charlie's identical twin brother,
Donald Kaufman (also played by
Cage), has shown up to move in with his brother. Emotionally,
Donald is
Charlie's polar opposite -- a loudmouthed, over-confident, superficial party animal who has an easy way with the ladies.
Donald has decided to follow his brother's footsteps and take up screenwriting as well, but embracing the dictates of screenwriting tutor
Robert McKee (
Brian Cox), he's cranking out a cliché-ridden serial-killer
thriller when not busy making time with new girlfriend
Caroline (
Maggie Gyllenhaal). As
Donald blazes through his screenplay,
Charlie slowly picks away at his story, in which author
Susan Orlean (
Meryl Streep) chronicles
John Laroche (
Chris Cooper), a scruffy but devoted plant enthusiast who tries to save rare species of orchids by stealing them from their natural home in the swamps of Florida. As
John and
Susan become better acquainted, they find themselves attracted to one another; similarly,
Charlie finds himself increasingly fascinated with
Susan, and finds himself falling in love with her, even though he's only seen her photo on the dust jacket of her book.
Charlie arranges to meet
Susan, but is too nervous to confront her face to face, so he sends
Donald (who has just scored a seven-figure deal for his script) in his place, while he attends a screenwriting seminar held by
McKee.
Adaptation also features
Tilda Swinton,
Judy Greer, and
Stephen Tobolowsky.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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