Adaptation · written by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman · 2002

Charlie drives past women working in shops and leaves without approaching Alice.

Scene 46 of 202 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act one

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 27 min into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 46

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.
Scene 10
Valerie and Margaret give Charlie the assignment to adapt The Orchid Thief.
Scene 31
Donald’s rivalry and affection give Charlie a living counterpoint to his isolated view of himself.
Just before
Scene 43
Orlean asks Laroche to take her to the orchid show, and he complains about his van.
Scene 44
Laroche explains his plan to clone ghost orchids, enrich the Seminoles, and stop future poaching.
Scene 45
Orlean’s account of old orchid hunters becomes a staged display of mannequins and cardboard swamp.
Scene 46
This scene

46INT. CAR - DAY

Kaufman drives slowly past Barnes and Noble, squints in the window, sees the tattooed cashier. He passes Burger King, sees a pretty employee, the same at Starbucks. Glassed-in women on display, different types, different attitudes. Kaufman stops in front of the California Pizza Kitchen. Alice and her orange hair glow through the window. He hesitates, then drives off.