Adaptation · written by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman · 2002

Charlie admits his faithful version has no movie ending, and McKee tells him the last act makes the film.

Scene 182 of 202 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act two

Kaufman
Mckee

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 1:32 into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 182

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 179
Charlie asks whether a screenplay can show people who fail to change, and McKee erupts at his denial of life’s conflict.
Scene 180
Charlie catches McKee outside and begs to discuss his story and his human choices.
Scene 181
Laroche and Orlean find the road out of the swamp by following a gleam of metal.
Scene 182
This scene

182INT. BAR - NIGHT

Kaufman and McKee sit at a table with beers. Kaufman reads from his copy of The Orchid Thief.

KAUFMAN

... We followed it like a beacon all the

way to the road.

Kaufman closes the book. There's a pause.

MCKEE

Then what happens?

KAUFMAN

That's the book. I wanted to present it

simply, without big character arcs or

sensationalizing the story. I wanted to

show flowers as God's miracles. I

wanted to show that Orlean never saw the

blooming ghost orchid. It's about

disappointment.

MCKEE

I see. That's not a movie. You must go

back and put in the drama.

KAUFMAN

(pause)

I've got pages of false starts and wrong

approaches. I'm way past my deadline. I

can't go back.

MCKEE

Ah, the everpresent deadline. Yes, I was

doing a Kojak once and... it was hell.

McKee sips his beer, eyes Kaufman.

MCKEE (cont'd)

Tell you a secret. The last act makes

the film. You can have an uninvolving,

tedious movie, but wow them at the end,

and you've got a hit. Find an ending.

Use what you've learned this weekend.

Give them that and you'll be fine.

Tears form in Kaufman's eyes.

KAUFMAN

You promise?

McKee smiles. Kaufman hugs him. McKee recognizes his bulk.

MCKEE

You've taken my course before?

KAUFMAN

My brother did. My twin brother Donald.

He's the one who got me to come.

MCKEE

Twin screenwriters. Julius and Philip

Epstein,who wrote Casablanca were twins.