Adaptation. (2002)

Pathetic, fat, balding, worthless loser Charlie Kaufman is tasked with adapting the screenplay to an unfilmable novel about orchids. How does he accomplish this task? By inserting himself into the narrative, of course. Nicolas Cage gives the performance of a lifetime as not one, but two versions of Kaufman. I've spent most of my life thinking about this film and unintentionally emulating it. No amount of words I devote to this nut would ever do it justice. Layers upon layers of inspired brilliance, elegance and meta-commentary that works on multiple levels. If I have two favorite movies of all time, this is the other one.

5 wanks following a writer's block out of 5

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

What lengths would you go to forget your painful past and wipe the slate clean? Undergo an experimental treatment to surgically remove those memories forever? We view the inside of one such mind as this procedure is being conducted. Past and present blend together as we begin to understand the reasons for such extreme measures. Charlie Kaufman and Michel Gondry's poignant sci-fi romantic drama explores the nature of love and memory in an intimate fashion, where you feel the loss right along with the characters. It contains all of the ways in which regret, disappointment and baggage weigh us down in life. It's a deeply rich and layered experience, and an absolutely genius example of cinematic achievement that rewards repeat viewings. The world that's created feels real and lived in and it's easy to lose oneself in the smallest details. This is one of those "comfort" films for when you're feeling isolated and disconnected from the rest of the world.

5 trips to Montauk out of 5

I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)

Charlie Kaufman directs this heady adaptation of Iain Reid's novel about a young woman on a road trip to meet her boyfriend's parents who contemplates the future of their relationship. On the surface, it plays out like surreal psychological horror, but it's probably even more nefarious at its core. This is one of those films where all the pieces don't make much sense until you look back at it through a different lens. While this may be frustratingly obtuse to some viewers, it rewards a deeper examination that gives light to deeper meaning. I could devote paragraphs to examining the themes of this film, but I'll just say it gives you a lot to chew on. Could just as easily be called pretentious, so make sure you know what you're getting into. 

4½ ice cream stands out of 5

Orion and the Dark (2024)

Inside Out, as scripted by Charlie Kaufman. Orion is a kid who is scared of everything. He's obsessed with death and has an existential fear of the unknown. He contemplates all of life's big questions: What happens after it all goes dark? This is Charlie Brown if he was distilled down to a pure anxiety disorder. Pretty heavy shit for a kid's movie.

After a total blackout, Orion encounters the embodiment of the Dark, who takes him out on a grand adventure (à la Little Nemo in Slumberland) and forces him to confront his fears. Also in tow are the other nighttime entities: Sleep, Quiet, Sweet Dreams, Insomnia, and Unexplained Noises. (What a bunch of assholes!) You can kind of tell where this is going, but there are actually layers that are gradually peeled back and offer varying narrative perspectives. It goes some interesting places that few children's films would ever dare to go, which means it might be too intense for the little ones (though it would have been perfect for me). Once the curtain is finally lifted, there is an additional story being told that can only be appreciated by grown ass adults. Unfortunately, you get the feeling Kaufman's original script has been watered down in some respects to make it more agreeable for general audiences. You can sense they're holding back and are beholden to a more optimistic, conventional approach. As such, it's not quite as good as it could have been, but you can see all the potential that was there on the page.

3½ gilded lilies out of 5

ANOMALISA [2015]

Never one to spoon-feed audiences, ambitious writer/director Charlie Kaufman (and co-director Duke Johnson) forces your jaw to the floor with the stop-motion animated masterpiece comical drama Anomalisa.
A depressed motivational speaker, who literally hears the same voice coming from everyone he meets, has a spark thrown into his life when he meets a woman who sounds completely different from the rest of the world.
The eerily realistic animated puppets are so engrossing you quite often forget it's not live-action, while you simultaneously get lost in it's tale of loneliness, depression, sex and a creepy Japanese automaton.  It's easy to admire the film from a technical standpoint, however at first it's a little difficult to enjoy the loathsome characters, until you know where it's leading you and it all becomes clear (sort of) as to why everything is the way it is.

4½ girls who wanna have fun out of 5

SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK [2008]

Like a melding of a Proust and Kafka novel adapted into film by Fellini, writer Charlie Kaufman's  post-modern drama directorial debut Synecdoche, New York is a dizzying tale that saunters between depression, dementia, death and decay.
The late Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a dying theatre director that becomes so consumed by his work, his grasp on the difference between fiction and reality are heavily blurred.  The film explores so many themes and motifs in it's unconventional plot, it'd be a task to list them all off but with some dedication to the film, the viewer will find all sorts of thoughtful goodies on it's many puzzling street corners.  It's a difficult film to enjoy as entertainment but an enticing one from a film-making and creative writing standpoint.

3½ ends built into the beginnings out of 5

Being John Malkovich (1999)

An unashamedly weird and hugely enjoyable film that offers up complex Freudian concepts and then somehow makes you not care that they get whitewashed over, because it was into a large tin of pure originality that writer Charlie Kaufman dipped his brush. It's the kind of comedy that makes you smile wryly, but would be equally at home in the tragedy section. If you over-analyse the plot too much it’ll start to turn in on itself, so just roll with it and have your faith restored in cinema for a short time.
John Malkovich is wonderful as... er...  Malkovich, and Cusack gives one of his best performances ever.

3½ low overheads out of 5