Adaptation

Yesterday I rewatched Adaptation, for one of my classes.
Adaptation is an adaptation of Susan Orlean's book, The Orchid Thief. But it's also a film about the difficulty Charles Kaufman (played by Nicolas Cage) had adapting the book into a screenplay. In a sense, the film is about Kaufman trying to adapt The Orchid Thief into a film, and includes parts of the resulting film. The film is all about how the same film was made.

One thing I'd forgotten about this film, since the first time I watched it, was how vulnerable Kaufman has made himself. His character is very nervous about meeting new people, impatient with is (invented) identical twin brother and is always worrying about something. The film begins with a voiceover of Kaufman rambling about his weight, baldness, tendency to sweat.
The thing I like about this is that it frees other people up to be able to be honest about their problems and anxieties.