83
Metascore
40 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Miami HeraldRene RodriguezMiami HeraldRene RodriguezIn a larger sense, Adaptation is a movie about the simple act of enjoying life -- of really embracing it -- without constantly worrying about what others think.
- 100Washington PostStephen HunterWashington PostStephen HunterSurely the most creative trick of the year and grimly funny throughout.
- 100Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversScreenwriting this smart, inventive, passionate and rip-roaringly funny is a rare species. It's magic.
- 91Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumThe notion of meta has never been diddled more mega than in this giddy Möbius strip of a movie, a contrivance so whizzy and clever that even when it tangles at the end, murked like swampy southwestern Florida itself, the stumble has quotation marks around it.
- 90SalonAndrew O'HehirSalonAndrew O'HehirA highly enjoyable failure, a quandary that can't resolve itself.
- 88The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenDuelling roles are an actor's dream, and Cage takes full advantage. He and that face of his -- hang-dog homely one minute, vibrantly macho the next -- are perfectly cast. So is Streep as the sophisticated Manhattanite drawn into a steamy realm of Southern discomfort.
- 83Portland OregonianKim MorganPortland OregonianKim MorganYou have to experience the thing to understand its simultaneous recklessness and care, its humor and sadness in the name of failure, its playful but dismal take on formulaic Hollywood endings.
- 75Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittAdaptation is sort of like the mythical Ourabouros mentioned in the screenplay -- the snake that eats its own tail -- or like a series of mirrors repeating their images to infinity.
- 70Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumThis is like a Ferris wheel--the ride's enjoyable but you've gone nowhere once it's over.
- 63USA TodayMike ClarkUSA TodayMike ClarkEven at its best, Adaptation is one of the movie year's most esoteric outings -- more so than even Paul Thomas Anderson's far superior "Punch-drunk Love." Too smart to ignore but a little too smugly superior to like, this could be a movie that ends up slapping its target audience in the face by shooting itself in the foot.