Charlie Kaufman: Ranking All 8 Films Worst To Best

8. Human Nature

It is not uncommon for writers to reuse themes and motifs from their previous work. Unfortunately, Human Nature borrows a little too much from Kaufman's feature debut Being John Malkovich.

After a scientist and his lover (who can grow hair to the point of appearing like a monkey) discover a wild man in the woods who believes himself to be an ape, the scientist captures the man and attempts to rehabilitate him so he may be introduced to society.

Tim Robbins' scientist is a strong parallel to John Cusack's puppeteer in terms of insecurities and behaviour. They treat their romantic partners (Patricia Arquette here, Cameron Diaz there) with similar contempt and both women act incredibly dependent on them as a result.

Miranda Otto plays an almost identical clone of Katherine Keener with an added French Accent. That leaves Rhys Ifans' wild man as a substitute for John Malkovich, a man who slowly loses control over his life throughout the film.

Unfortunately, Human Nature takes far too much from Being John Malkovich that it verges on self-plagiarism. This makes it feel like the least original film he's made and originality is his whole appeal.