Adaptation

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Rheagan Wallace, Jane Adams

Directed by: Spike Jonze

RS: 3of 4 Stars

2002 Comedy

Watch Adaptation, a scathing satire about the corrupt art of screenwriting, and you're full of questions: What's up with Nicolas Cage playing twin screenwriters, one with integrity, the other without? What are the roots of Charlie Kaufman's Hollywood-skewering script? What did director Spike Jonze add to the mix? You'll find no answers on this Superbit DVD, which takes the disc space used for extras and used it to optimize picture and sound. Great for an epic but useless here, except as another joke on pumped-up Hollywood.

PETER TRAVERS
(May 6, 2003)