Adaptation. (2002)

Right, so the script is by Charlie Kaufman and the plot is about a screenwriter named Charlie Kaufman writing the script for the movie Adaptation. Yea, the same one you're reading about. As in, it's a movie about itself. Take a sec and let that sink in. No rush, I'll wait. Now, the real miracle of this film isn't just that it has an ending (which, logically, it shouldn't!), or the way it breaks every rule it sets itself up to have, but that it's actually quite good. It has this kind of clever, unashamed, narcissistic whimsy to itself that's easy to get caught up in. And it makes you ask all sorts of bizarre questions: is this really all true? If not, how much of it is? And what do the real people behind the (alleged) farce think of this? It's twisted, it's confusing, and yet it all makes sense by the end in the most peculiar ways. That said, the final act, where it caves to its own ideas, lacks the fun spark of the earlier bits of the film, and as good as the cast is (headed up by a surprisingly good Nicolas Cage), there's just enough going on underneath to yank you out of the non-fantasy. But maybe that's intentional? That's something the viewer will have to figure out for themselves. All you need to know is that by the time the credits roll, it's very likely you will be delightfully baffled.

8 out of 10.