And then what happens? This is a marvel of a movie for 2/3 of its running length. The story of a screenwriter's efforts to translate an apparently unfilmable book into a screenplay sets up a fascinating, and funny, premise that the film exploits to the hilt. The movie makes us think and laugh at the same time. Nicolas Cage is wonderful in playing identical twins.
But Charlie Kaufman, the film's screenwriter, has written himself into a corner. There is no way out of his character's film dilemma. The choice he makes can be seen as a satire and a sad commentary on his character's own failed ideals--but it isn't very satisfying to watch. On the other hand, if the film spools out as it probably could and should have, there isn't any sort of imaginable conclusion to it because essentially there is no "movie" there, or at least nothing like a cinematic story. What there is, perhaps, is "real life" rather than "reel life," the life where the climactic encounters we anticipate at work, at home, in love, often prove to be anti-climactic if they ever take place at all. Can a movie that concludes anti-climactically be made? The final irony is that this movie's ending, which has nothing but denouements aplenty, feels anti-climactic.
A final thought: I stayed and watched most of the credits but left before the very final copyright frame rolled past. As I drove home, I feared that I'd left too soon, that immediately after that final frame, the film would pick up at the point where it went "Hollywood" and finish the film Charlie-Nic was trying to write. I'll rent the video to make sure, but I suspect that much audacity was just a bit beyond Charlie-Charlie and the film's director, Spike Jonze. Still, a tip of the hat for even planting that doubt in my head. I'll remember this film for a long time...