Adaptation · written by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman · 2002

Orlean and her husband share a quiet dinner without finding a way to reconnect.

Scene 65 of 202 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act one

Husband
Orlean

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 39 min into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 65

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 62
Orlean admits that she wants to feel the passion other people feel for their interests.
Scene 63
A girl swings alone as her parents stare away from each other through separate windows.
Scene 64
Charlie types a grand circular opening, then Donald brings back McKee’s ideas and Charlie confesses their shared loneliness.
Scene 65
This scene

65INT. ORLEAN'S KITCHEN - EVENING

Orlean eats a silent dinner with her husband.

HUSBAND

You want to do something tonight?

ORLEAN

I should work. I've got stuff...

He nods. She smiles, picks up her dish, puts it in the sink.