Adaptation · written by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman · 2002

Laroche calls his broken back and pesticide poisoning strokes of luck because they led to money and a nursery.

Scene 68 of 202 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act one

Laroche
Orlean

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 39 min into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 68

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 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
Young Laroche spots a flower on a construction site and falls from the half-built house.
Scene 68
This scene

68INT. DINER - DAY

Laroche talks. Orlean takes notes.

LAROCHE

(laughing)

... I broke my back. Exactly how my dad

did. Isn't that a psycho coincidence?

(far away)

Y'know, the way I see it, we're a family

of ailments and pain.

(suddenly excited.)

But, anyway, it was a godsend.

Laroche scarfs his pie. Orlean watches him.

ORLEAN (V.O.)

Laroche once spilled toxic pesticide into

a cut on his hand. It resulted in

permanent heart and liver damage. Most

people would consider this a terrible

accident. Laroche considered it a

success...