I’m not really sure how I never saw this movie until now. I think it came out in that period between 2002-2007 where I didn’t really watch movies.
Such a shame, because it is really a great film. I had previously only seen Adaptation, and I could never understand what the appeal of Charlie Kaufman was. After ESOTSM, I totally get it. It was like watching an Italo Calvino novel.
What a boring movie Adaptation was. Now I see that it wasn’t Charlie Kaufman’s fault, it was Nicolas Cage’s fault. Or maybe Spike Jonze’s.
After checking Wikipedia, I see that Spike Jonze has directed three movies: Being John Malkovich (written by Kaufman, which I haven’t seen), Adaptation, and Where the Wild Things Are (which is terrible). I think perhaps Spike Jonze’s reputation is a bit overblown.