Spike Jonze is a filmmaker whose pictures are recognizable because of his impressive ability to direct actors in the rhythm of the world and words they inhabit. The funniest moments are created because of the exploration of how far something can go. For instance, McKee's bashing of Kaufman, who asks a question about how to create a screenplay where nothing happens, wouldn't be as comedic if McKee doesn't tear Charlie's head off. Charlie is seen as brave as he asks in the midst of a crowd who sinks lows to not dare ask a question. He rises up to meet the king in order to get his answer, and Jonze uses this same image of him standing in the crowd after being torn apart by McKee to emphasize that he is now the focus of the type of attention you don't want. And, his response, "Okay, thanks." brings home to hilarious moment. This can only play out because Jonze understands the height to which the language had to rise to, and the space necessary to linger between McKee's outburst and Charlie's response.
Jonze also uses imagery to tie Orlean to Laroche in an intimate way. As Laroche describes an insect pollinating a flower, Jonze cuts to Orlean being enamored with him as a bee to a flower. We are given moments of images we can not only understand but feel and they put us in the story rather than just watching it.
This film is a culmination of writing and acting that is carefully coordinated to capture a particular tone. Charlie, like his screenplay, doesn't fit into a paint by number box, and neither does this film. It is its own genre, and in Jonze's hands it comes alive in a pure way, true to the intent of the author. This type of collaboration is applauded because its vital to the creative art of filmmaking existing in the business of movies.
