Adaptation · written by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman · 2002

Orlean asks Laroche to keep talking, but he says orchids no longer interest him and hangs up.

Scene 121 of 202 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act two

Laroche
Orlean

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 1:00 into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 121

Unable to find a conventional story in The Orchid Thief, screenwriter Charlie Kaufman turns his own crisis into an increasingly self-referential adaptation.

Scenes 1–9
Charlie inhabits an isolated, self-condemning world while Orlean’s book supplies a distant model of obsession.
Scenes 10–88
Charlie wants to write honestly and make flowers matter, while also longing to be desired and understood.
Scenes 89–105
He leaves his familiar writing room and goes to Florida to search for the story firsthand.
Just before
Scene 118
Laroche teases his Seminole coworkers with the caricature on his shirt.
Scene 119
Laroche proposes new titles and plant multiplication, while Buster asks him to take time off.
Scene 120
Laroche fumes about being fired as Charlie’s Florida research montage ends in boredom at the beach.
Scene 121
This scene

121INT. HOTEL ROOM - DAY

Orlean dials the phone. It rings for a long time. Finally:

LAROCHE (PHONE VOICE)

(groggy)

Yeah?

ORLEAN

John, it's Susan.

(waits for response)

Orlean.

(waits)

So, I was just wondering if you might be

willing to talk some more.

LAROCHE (PHONE VOICE)

What about?

Orlean rolls her eyes.

ORLEAN

C'mon, John, I'm trying to put together a

book. Don't just abandon me down here.

LAROCHE

I'm no longer interested in orchids. I'm

pursuing other avenues. I apologize for

any inconvenience this might cause you.

Orlean is silent, taps her fingers on the bedside table.

LAROCHE

Thank you for your time.

Laroche hangs up. Orlean sits there for a moment, flips through her list of orchid collector names.