1. Adaptation (2002) – Directed by Spike Jonze
Even while schlubby and balding, Nicolas Cage manages to steal Spike Jonze’s “Adaptation” from the likes of Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper, which is no mean feat. And while “Leaving Las Vegas” won Cage his first Academy Award, “Adaptation” should have won Cage his second. It’s a true masterwork of a film, with a superbly meta (per usual) script from the unmatched Charlie Kaufman (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Synecdoche, NY”) and some of the best direction of Spike Jonze’s (“Being John Malkovich,” “Her”) career. All of these elements combined together create a whirlwind of genius meta-filmmaking and filmmaking within the meta-filmmaking and so on. Cage plays two roles in “Adaptation”—first, as Charlie Kaufman, a depressed, borderline-neurotic, tortured-artist type struggling to adapt a novel into film fort via his own unconventional means. The second role is as Donald Kaufman, Charlie’s twin brother and recently new roommate. Donald is considerably more upbeat and happy-go-lucky than Charlie and appears less tortured and burdened by a sense of artistic integrity and intelligence. Cage plays both roles as two different sides to the same person, but keeps them separated; at no point do Charlie and Donald lapse into one being on account of an inability by Cage. This is predominantly why “Adaptation” takes the top spot over “Leaving Las Vegas”—there’s simply more Cage in one movie than ever before. As two characters, Cage is given room to excel in multiple regards and does so in a smart, multi-faceted approach. Never overbearing and always grounded, Cage gives a life to the meta-characters of Charlie and Donald Kaufman that fits right into step with the real-life Charlie Kaufman’s script. I urge readers to watch this film more than any other entry on this list—things become much more clear watching Cage in action.
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