"Who am I kidding? This is not Susan Orlean's story."

While watching Adaptation was great, holding and reading the very script Kaufman hands to Donald in the script just puts a smile on my face.

The authorial voice in Adaptation is of the master himself (and his brother!) whom gives the screenplay voice as we have a "Malkovich"-like portal into his brain . Which is plenty fun. As you progress in the screenplay, and you see/read/hear Kaufman type descriptions and dialogue, you realize that it is his voice permeating the entire piece. Kaufman is playing, and those whom dedicate the effort can come along.

A playful, in character, authorial voice permeates The Apartment. Wilder's way he wrote the script may him sound like he could be a character working in that corporation, syntax-wise.

Mathison's voice is just drowned out in comparison to Kaufman's and Wilder's. She really takes a step back, and aside from the occasional bit of flowery description of a space-ship or a boy's bedroom, lets the action take a front seat. Not that every screenplay needs a powerful author's voice, there may also be argument for a writer to reign themselves in and allow a director and actors get their own impressions without dealing with the author's voice.

1. Weston talked briefly about bold choices. Do you think Kaufman's bold choice of writing a screenplay about writing a screenplay about adapting a book was a successful bold choice?

2. In Adaptation, Kaufman rips down McKee's Ten Commandments of Writing, ignoring the thoughtful gesture from Donald. Even though in the screenplay, Kaufman does not read them, did he follow them in writing Adaptation...in real life? (HINT: Yes, especially #5, talk about it a bit).