Adaptation · written by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman · 2002

Young Laroche spots a flower on a construction site and falls from the half-built house.

Scene 67 of 202 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act one

Laroche

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 39 min into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 67

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 64
Charlie types a grand circular opening, then Donald brings back McKee’s ideas and Charlie confesses their shared loneliness.
Scene 65
Orlean and her husband share a quiet dinner without finding a way to reconnect.
Scene 66
Orlean begins writing that Laroche sees a profitable outcome in every situation.
Scene 67
This scene

67EXT. CONSTRUCTION SITE - DAY

SUBTITLE: NORTH MIAMI, TEN YEARS EARLIER

A younger Laroche, in a hard hat, walks atop a half-built house. He spots a flower in a backyard across the street.

LAROCHE

(pleased with himself)

Asclepiadaceae. From thirty yards. Yes.

He loses his footing, falls two storeys, lands on his back.