Double Cage

Modern moviegoers know Nicolas Cage as the face of the dopey National Treasure franchise and the star of a hilarious YouTube montage of Wicker Man lowlights. But dubious choices aside, Cage boasts more potential for brilliance than almost any living actor, and 2002’s Adaptation offers definitive proof of his talent. Cage plays both Charlie Kaufman, a slouching, painfully awkward screenwriter, and Donald Kaufman, his jovial, willfully oblivious twin brother. He inhabits both characters so convincingly that either depiction could have warranted an Oscar nomination. Cage outshines even the past and future Academy Award recipients (Meryl Streep, Tilda Swinton, Chris Cooper) who surround him. Most initial Adaptation attention focused on Kaufman’s screenplay, an exploration of the writer’s work that spirals into a metaphysical vortex of ironic overlaps and arch self-deprecation. Kaufman the character calls this conceit “narcissistic.” Kaufman the writer makes it witty, profound and moving. Adaptation screens for free at 7 tonight at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (4525 Oak, 816-751-1278.)

Sat., May 31, 7 p.m., 2008