Lame, unexplained plot cheats the audience

Rating: 4/10 (26 August 2003)

SPOILERS GALORE!!
In the (clever) movie "Adaptation", the clever screenwriter brother explains to the dim screenwriter brother that introducing a split personality to explain your plot is the oldest cliche in movie history. Well, this movie has split personalities in spades...10 of them, in fact. The plot tries so hard to be clever that it ends up making no sense whatsoever. There are a couple of good performances, but the explanation at the ending is so lame, it made me feel embarrassed for the good actors caught in the mess. If the movie is meant to take place inside some nutball's head, why is it made so (nearly) realistic. The plot points that are unrealistic lack any sort of imagination, and remain unexplained. Why does each victim have a numbered room key? Why do the bodies disappear? How and why do the personalities murder each other?
This movie cheats the audience and left me feeling as damp and washed out as the creek at the end of the road.