If you don't find the self-importance, self-absorption and self-aggrandizement of people like Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld annoying, you may not find the self-importance, self-absorption and self-aggrandizement of Charlie Kaufman annoying. Otherwise, beware the inflated ego. Kaufman evidently has let the critical success of "Being John Malkovich" convince him of what he wanted to believe of himself all along, namely that he really is smart enough to deserve an entire feature-length movie dedicated to the exploration and celebration of his creative genius. Naturally there is something of the same self-deprecating nods and winks of the "Curb your enthusiasm" and "Seinfeld" self-celebration set--after all, Kaufman really isn't creating, only adapting. The real creative mind is supposed to be Susan Orlean, and the real creation, "The Orchid Thief"--what Kaufman sets out to adapt--just as John Malkovich's mind was supposed to be the mysterious creative realm so awesome and profound as to constitute an entire new and hitherto unexplored dimension of our universe. But there as here the focus never really is with the creative mind at all but with the explorers, as though they were larger than the lives they explored precisely because they were brilliant enough to recognize the genius of the works they decided to appropriate. What's sad is how such perfectly self-respecting creative forces as Cage and Streep would offer up their talents at the shrine Mr. Kaufman has created for himself.