Adaptation · written by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman · 2002

Orlean picks up Laroche, who insists that cigarettes are all the supplies he needs.

Scene 150 of 202 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act two

Orlean
Laroche

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 1:17 into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 150

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.
Scenes 106–126
The swamp is ordinary, Orlean’s research fails, and Charlie experiments with increasingly personal versions of the book.
Scenes 127–144
Charlie finds a way to focus the material by putting himself in it, then commits to meeting Orlean.
Just before
Scene 147
Charlie sleeps uneasily before his meeting with Orlean.
Scene 148
Orlean dreams that the swamp traps and drags her under.
Scene 149
Orlean wakes from the dream as the imagined flood and alligator vanish from her hotel room.
Scene 150
This scene

150EXT. LAROCHE'S HOUSE - EARLY MORNING

Orlean pulls up to the curb where Laroche stands, dressed in a short sleeve shirt, thin pants, and his Miami Hurricanes hat. He opens the door and climbs in.

ORLEAN

Where are our supplies?

LAROCHE

Got everything I need right here.

Laroche pulls a new pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. Orlean turns off the ignition and stares at the steering wheel. Laroche shrugs.

LAROCHE (cont'd)

Look, don't worry about it. We'll get

crap at the Indian trading post on

Alligator Alley. Hey, want me to drive?