YMMV / Adaptation.

• Alternate Character Interpretation: Some have theorized that Donald is actually just Charlie's alternate personality. Proponents of this theory point out that Donald's screenplay The Three is also about alternate-personalities.
• Award Snub: It received four Academy Award nominations, with Chris Cooper winning Best Supporting Actor, but it wasn't nominated for Best Picture or Director.
• Broken Base: The film's third act was incredibly polarizing among both audiences and film critics. While some people say that it thematically makes sense and was the perfect way to conclude it, others said it has so little to do with the rest of the film that it drags the excellent first two acts down.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • The "Technology.... versus horse" subtext Donald places in his script makes the climactic battle in Avatar so much funnier, as this is pretty much exactly the subtext James Cameron was going for.
  • Additionally, the Christian-themed horror novel and film adaptation entitled Thr3e, which have the exact plot twist that Donald uses. Identity was also close enough that you could be forgiven for wondering if they hired Donald to write it.
• Tear Jerker:
  • Donald's death, especially the tragic way Charlie sings to him to try to keep him awake.
  • John LaRoche's entire life and death.
• The Woobie: John LaRoche loses his mother, uncle, and front teeth in a car accident that also puts his wife in a coma, which she wakes from only to immediately divorce him. His remaining possessions are then lost in a hurricane. Then he's killed by alligators. Even worse, obviously barring that last part, these are not only true details from the book, but just scratching the surface of the kind of life he's led in Real Life.

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