We are back into madhouse...this film is incredible haha! Want to vote on what I should watch next? Click here! www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema Have a Fargo Season 1 Episode on Friday and Captain America & Winter Soldier on Saturday Enjoy the day!

In my opinion, this is the most brilliant screenplay of all time. To watch the movie is to be observing its creation. Upon rewatches, you begin to realize just how true that statement is. A Couple of Examples: -the moment McKee at the seminar mentions that voiceover is an idiot's way to do exposition, the voiceover (that began the movie) stops for the rest of the film. -as soon as Charlie asks his brother to take part in the writing process, the film veers into "standard Holywood" fare with drugs, car chases, action, etc. Every time I watch this film, I'm blown away at how Kaufman managed to faithfully adapt the spirit The Orchid Thief and create an astoundingly unique film.

Donald Kaufman is the only fictional character ever nominated for an Academy Award (for this screenplay).

SO glad you've watched this. One of the most inventive, original brilliant scripts ever written. And executed perfectly.

I love the metaphors in this film, his 'twin brother' even introduces the idea of the split personality, and they discuss how difficult it would be to portray this in a film without the audience catching on, just incredible.

I love how Charlie and “Donald” Kaufman are still the credited screenwriters for this movie 🤣

I love that throughout this film an audience is kept on the edge of their seats trying to determine how he's going to write the film... when the evidence of the conclusion is the film itself.

I remember actually reading Susan Orlean's book, The Orchid Thief, and seeing this movie, and I can't recall what order I read/watched the two works in, but it's fascinating to see this ~adaptation. Kaufman making a movie about trying to adapt the book into a movie instead of just adapting the book is so weird and brilliant. I can't help wondering what Susan Orelan's face was like when she read the script. She's described her reaction as: **[Reading the screenplay] was a complete shock. My first reaction was "Absolutely not!" They had to get my permission and I just said: "No! Are you kidding? This is going to ruin my career!" Very wisely, they didn't really pressure me. They told me that everybody else had agreed and I somehow got emboldened. It was certainly scary to see the movie for the first time. It took a while for me to get over the idea that I had been insane to agree to it, but I love the movie now. What I admire the most is that it's very true to the book's themes of life and obsession, and there are also insights into things which are much more subtle in the book about longing, and about disappointment.**

"Passion is the maturing of obsession... Passion can move, obsession can't." That's legitimately profound, dude.

This is one of the best screenplays in my opinion. I like how once his twin brother gets involved with the script, the movie takes a turn of drugs, car chases, and violence. As if his brother really did help with the script. It’s brilliant!

Note: it becomes "infinitely more entertaining" like you said, James, right after Kaufman's twin "brother" starts helping with the script of the movie we're watching in act 3...and then every cliche Kaufman didn't want happens...making the movie extra fictional and way better. (The Gardening book is real and the film is legally based upon it, btw.)

I have seen this movie 15-20ish times. Absolutely brilliant idea for a film, but to actually EXECUTE this masterpiece was a generational moment in film imo. Cage's internal dialogue as a personal suffering from crippling anxiety socially, professionally, personally is just way ahead of the mental health recognition movement. The mind bending plot is nothing without the direction/performances and both are exceptional. Creative process. Art/commerce/intention. Sexual drive. Ego. Loss. Just so much there.

Chris Cooper is such an underrated actor, love him in this and Little Women (2019)

Nick Cage absolutely killed it in this role and Brian Cox was in his best form. These days people forget that Nicholas Cage can actually act at an Oscar level.

This is probably the most creative film I've ever seen but is also fun to watch. I've seen plenty of original films that aren't really enjoyable but this one balanced everything perfectly IMO. Also Nic Cage at his best in my eyes.

A movie...about the story...about how the script for the movie you're watching came about. For me it was like the movie was watching itself.

To me, it's still insane that this movie is an actual adaptation of a real book. Someone probably already commented it, but both Charlie and Donald Kaufman were nominated for screenplay at the Oscars for Adaptation.. But, you know? Donald doesn't exist, which is hilarious. And you were right about Donald being a counterpoint to Charlie. Donald is like everything Charlie wants to be. And that whole ending is one of the best enfings ever, in my opinion. The entire dramatic shift is so tasty. Charlie Kaufman wrote the best Deus Ex Machina in cinema history.

Probably my favorite commentary you've ever done. You were so ON with this movie. You called it, called the beats, followed the story just as Spike directed it. Very perceptive!

"We're gonna fix your movie, bro." Is such a heartwarming line. Talk about auteurs all you want- It's not just one guy.

I LOVE THIS MOVIE SO MUCH! It's criminally underrated and I want to shove it in everyone's face.

“Writers block” is so relatable to anything you do in life. I’m a DJ. It happens to me. I obsessed sometimes with the things that shouldn’t matter instead of trying to showcase what I’m passionate about

Something I find interesting about this film is the notion that obsession causes harm to the self and passion causes harm to others. Navigating successfully between these two extremes involves rationality, empathy and a certain type of letting go/giving up. Both extremes are about a desire for control, and that desire is in and of itself destructive. Creativity demands a selflessness/dissolution of ego to truly prosper.

Glad to have you back, James. Glad you're feeling good in mind, body, and soul. Take whatever time you need whenever you need it. You're the best and we all appreciate you so much 🙏

This is a pure write's movie, Love everything Kaufman does. Thanks for posting this.

My biggest takeaway from this film was that Nick Cage is an INSANE talent. I loved both of these characters and they were played so convincingly and differently by Cage. He's just a singular talent and anytime someone writes him off he does something like this.

Beautiful, James. Your closing analysis ... beautiful. Excellent work, well done xxx

this is in my top 10 films of all time! Charlie kaufman does not miss

The intro to this movie straight up freaked me out when I saw it. I'm an oboist, and around the film's release I'd started studying Japanese to help with the screenplay I was messing around with. It was like...wtf am I watching? This movie and Matchstick Men convinced me that Nicholas Cage should only ever play characters with these kinds of serious self-destructive issues and idiosyncrasies and mental problems. He's so great at being utterly off-kilter in all sorts of ways, while walking this weird line between parody and serious.

one of the best films ever made. INCREDIBLE screenplay. Perfect casting

2 Nicolas Cages arguing with each other is my songwriting process personified

I love your videos bro. Thanks for making them. You're a super insightful guy.

Welcome back James, hope you had a great, relaxing time!! You deserved it man. I was so shook to see this pop up, the best reactions are the ones I truly don’t see coming 😂 So glad you’re watching this, keep on the grind bro, There’s no other channel like jamesvscinema!!

at home sick today so I decided to watch across the universe for the first time in years and I forgot how visually stunning it is 😍😍 I think you would love it!!

This is one of my favourite films of all time. Very happy to see someone finally do a reaction video for it.

Movies about writing movies is a fun sub-genre, you'd like 'Barton Fink', Cohen Bros.

I’m so glad you were able to relax and have fun on your vacation glad to see you smiling and happy living life brother 🖤

I’m so glad you did this!!! I can’t wait to watch this video

The fact that you think advice from Donald is the way forward is hilarious.

Glad to see that youre refreshed !!

Glad you got home safe!! So happy you got to take a well-deserved break and enjoy the great outdoors :)

Brian Cox's appearance was incredible. Really such a smart, smart movie. Loved it.

I really like what you said in this reaction about the creative process and writer's block so I would definitely love to hear more about that in a future video 😉

Once he asks his brother for help writing the script, the entire movie becomes something his brother would write. It should also be noted that this is ACTUALLY an adaption to the non-fiction book, The Orchid Thief. The writer was horrified when she first read the screenplay.

I started watching James's videos with great interest and enthusiasm for all the knowledge he shares about cinema. After this I think James has become my new therapist. You have an incredible gift to transmit creative energy, it is inspiring. Thanks from Spain.

Thank you!!! I've been voting for this one for a minute. :)

The alligator attack is a really dark inside joke because the screenwriting teacher had specifically said, "Don't you dare put a Deus Ex Machina in the ending!!"

I like the vibe and the look you got going on 😊 can’t wait to watch this movie with you.

I haven’t really started the video, just wanted to say I’m so excited because this is one of my favorite movies

Think about both the balls and the genius it takes to be brought a book for an adaptation and THIS is what you turn it in to lol. I've always wondered what the real Susan Orlean's first reaction must have been expecting to read a screenplay based on her book and getting this. Kaufman is a hell of a writer. Eternal Sunshine is a classic, and also last year's "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" on Netflix is a wild ride.

It makes me so happy you enjoyed this movie I have been bugging you to watch for awhile now! The acting in this was so great by everyone, especially Nicolas Cage playing vastly different personalities for each brother.

OMG, this one of my all-time favorite movies and my absolute favorite nic cage performance. so excited for this reaction. thank you so much dude!

I loved this movie. I originally saw it with an aspiring screenwriter who had been to one of Robert McKee's seminars, so while the movie was folding in on itself, so was my viewing experience.

I remember years ago there was an entry for “The 3” on IMDB, with Donald Kaufman the credited writer, but it’s not there anymore.

I knew you’d love it! When I think of good acting, I think of Meryl Streep bemusedly telling Chris Cooper that her rental car is a Lumina. I’m not kidding.

In the opening of the film he says he doesn't wanna make typical Hollywood trash with car chases and drugs and secret love affairs. He just wants to make a movie about flowers. And that's what we get for two thirds of the film. It's when he asks his brother: "How would YOU end my film?" that all of a sudden we get typical Hollywood trash with car chases and drug plots and secret love affairs. His brother wrote the end of the movie.

I sat right behind Cage in the seminar scene. $90 for the day as an extra - lol

Adaptation is a great one. The next time you feel like watching a trippy film about screenwriters block you should check out the Coen brothers "Barton Fink"

Oh man, so glad you did this film this is gonna be a fun reaction

I think Donald represents the version of Charlie that has all of what he considers to be his bad ideas. He tends to write unusual scripts like Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, so it definitely seems in-character for him to not want to include cliches like car chases, illicit drug use, etc. in his scripts. It definitely seems like Charlie is aware of this and is kind of poking fun at himself with this movie. Here his supposed "bad" ideas, which he spends the first half trying to ignore, are what end up enabling him to complete the script. Normally I would think the death of a character who is the embodiment of a collection of personality traits would be indicative of the person losing those traits, however, in this case, I think it's indicative of Charlie accepting those traits and not needing to keep them separate anymore.

Wow, every time I see a review from you it’s on my fav list. This was one I thought of the other day. There are a few more I thought of if you haven’t done them; Slingblade, French film Delicatessan, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, American Splendour, another with Chris Cooper Lonestar, some many great films out there…loving your reviews and your choices.

I tend to rewatch this movie at least 3 times a year since first seeing it.

Welcome back, and coming back strong!

This is my favorite Nic Cage film. He has such great chemistry with himself.

One of my all-time favorites. And it’s not really a movie, but a movie-within-a-movie once you realize the screenplay is as if written by Charlie and the fictitious Donald.

Always love the genre of movies about making movies, or movie makers...Sunset Boulevard, Bowfinger, Adaptation...

You can get a digital voice recorder from pretty much any big box electronics retailer or online. I recommend one that has USB and can record as an mp3 so you can then throw that on any other device you own. Love your work James!

Love this movie. Cage is fantastic in it. Great choice James!

I agree with one of the previous posts. The film is "lost" and "incoherent" but his brother gets involved, which leads to car chases, twists, drugs, and death. You know, the basic cliches that only exist in movies. It's brilliant. I also operate that Donald is a figment of Charlie's imagination that indulges the other side of his personality that he tries to keep at bay. He helped him reach clarity and once he got there, his brother was gone. That's how I believe his mother recognized his voice on the phone.

Kaufman was not trying to make the point that the fictional twin was right, nor the Robert McKee character... I was surprised to hear him in an interview totally upend what I thought the movie was about. It's a tragedy for him, the way the movie devolves into melodrama.

James... back with another deep cut. Man you have a knack for picking some cool offbeat flicks. Love this movie. And if you like this, you gotta do Magnolia.

“We are all egocentric, and what is realest to each of us, in the end, is ourself.” - D. Hofstadter, I Am a Strange Loop

So glad you enjoyed it, man. This has been a favorite of mine for awhile. Check out American Beauty, Short Term 12, or IT's Kind of a Funny Story. All very different, but good.

Yes!! Finally!

I love everything you bring us, please more Charlie Kaufman! I can never get enough of him. Anomalisa is one of my favorites of him. Do you like animation? "It's such a beautiful day" and "The world of tomorrow" are beautiful movies, (not from Charlie Kaufman) but I'm almost 100% sure you would love.

I was high as hell when I watched this when it came out. I need to go back and watch it with a clear mind.

This movie is working on so many levels it's like Charlie Kaufman didn't realize he was warning himself not to make Synecdoche, New York. Let Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry be the Donald to your Charlie.

I like your observation about passion ( flowing ) vs obsession ( stuck ). I remember that.

Another great film with Chris Cooper is Lone Star from 1996

Audiorecorder? You can get a Tascam or Zoom 6 for instance; they're multifunctional for podcast recording, live music recording, nature sounds, and work as interface for pistol mics for filmmaking.

First awesome reaction James

so glad you are watching this. Adaptation is so META. The Acting is brilliant. Nick Cage, Meryl Streep, and Chris (i won a Oscar with bad teeth) Cooper.

I watched this not too long ago like a week after watching Being John Malkavich and it was a REAL mind trip. 🤯

This is my favorite movie. One repeating theme is the ouroboros, which can also be seen as both Charlie and "Donald". Charlie eats Donald in order to be set free from his neuroses. Eats as in figuratively, not physically. He ingests the character of Donald as we see at the end.

Greatest script of all time, legendary performances, this film is a 9.6 in our book.

I used to use that kind of recorder. Personally found hearing my own voice saying it made it harder for me to use later. Not sure why... maybe I felt differently later than I did then... maybe I needed to get my imagination working again... Not sure, but it did not work as well as I hoped... Can't say where to get them. Been too long since I used one.

Honestly, one of the best movies ever.

This is a wonderful movie. You may also like Stranger than Fiction with Will Ferrell and Emma Thompson. It's similar in playing with narrative.

Hey! Love the channel. Another great movie about writers block is "81/2" by Fellini

Charlie Kaufman!! Now do I’m thinking of Ending Things!

I heard that the donald kaufman script sounds eerily similar with "High Tension" Also always love this movie man Charlie Kaufman is a great filmaker

I would enjoy personally a video about conquering writer's block. I've been in a rut for like 5 years (music producer). I remember enjoying this movie when it came out and now that I look back I wonder if it's secretly about the wachowskis.

This film is in my top 5 all time. Only Charlie Kaufman would be hired to write an adaptation of an impossible to adapt book and ultimately write himself into a movie about him trying to adapt an impossible to adapt book … ending it with a deus ex machina when told not to ... and invent a fictional twin brother in the process. Plus Brian Cox yelling at people.

In middle school/high school I set out to watch every single Nicolas Cage movie… tapped out at number 67. He just kept coming out with more and I couldn’t keep up

I LOVE this film. And it isn't nearly well known enough. Brilliant script. And the performances are AMAZING. Streep is great , Chris Cooper is excellent and I found him really interesting and a complex character. And Cage gets to show what an amazing actor he is when directors aren't asking him to do the "Nic Cage Thing". You can look at his performances as Charlie and Donald and SEE which twin it is. Not in some vulgar , obvious stupid trick way. Like one has a mohawk or an accent. Not lazy. You can just see it in his expressions , his movements. He really is brilliant.

Zoom probably makes the best compact digital recorder on the market. The sound quality is excellent and the price is really good for what you get. I've owned one for years and it's great.

Can't prove this: the script Kaufman's "brother" is working on is a real script. Kaufman worked for the same agency that writer Michael Cooney worked for when Adaptation came out. They likely knew one another...perhaps Cooney asked the brilliant writer of Being John M for advice on his own script...titled Identity (came out a year after Adaptation and starred John Cusack.)

25:10 My first feature film screenplay is exactly about this. That's crazy.

This is my favorite movie

Have you seen her another spike jonze film?

Ah hell yeah, I’m from Montana!