Plot

A lovelorn screenwriter becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt 'The Orchid Thief' by Susan Orlean for the screen.

While his latest movie Being John Malkovich (1999) is in production, screenwriter Charlie Kaufman is hired by Valerie Thomas to adapt Susan Orlean's non-fiction book "The Orchid Thief" for the screen. Thomas bought the movie rights before Orlean wrote the book, when it was only an article in The New Yorker. The book details the story of rare orchid hunter John Laroche, whose passion for orchids and horticulture made Orlean discover passion and beauty for the first time in her life. Charlie wants to be faithful to the book in his adaptation, but despite Laroche himself being an interesting character in his own right, Charlie is having difficulty finding enough material in Laroche to fill a movie, while equally not having enough to say cinematically about the beauty of orchids. At the same time, Charlie is going through other issues in his life. His insecurity as a person doesn't allow him to act upon his feelings for Amelia Kavan, who is interested in him as a man. And Charlie's twin brother, pretentious Donald, has moved into his house with a goal of also becoming a screenwriter. Despite not admiring Donald as a screenwriter, Charlie asks for his advice. Together, they feel that there is some interesting subtext in the book on which Orlean herself can only elaborate, if only Charlie has the nerve to talk to her. If she can't or won't elaborate, they may have to find out the meaning of that subtext on their own.—Huggo

Frequently cynical screenwriter Charlie Kaufman has just taken on a new assignment. That is, to adapt writer Susan Orlean's "The Orchid Thief" into a screenplay, all of it based on the life of the eccentric John Laroche, an exotic plant collector based out of Florida. While his easygoing twin brother Donald, is writing scripts with ease, Charlie finds himself on a perpetual struggle that never seems to end.—MonkeyKingMA

An account of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman's attempt to adapt Susan Orlean's non-fiction book The Orchid Thief, which is the story of John Laroche, a plant dealer who clones rare orchids then sells them to collectors. We see the action of the book as we see Kaufman struggle to adapt it into a movie. This is presumably a somewhat true story, as Charlie Kaufman is the real life screenwriter of Adaptation.—Jason Smith

Kaufman is struggling with the arduous task of adapting The Orchid Thief, by Susan Orlean, which doesn't have an obvious dramatic line (it is essentially a book about orchids). At the same time he faces a mid-life crisis, which is worsened by the presence of his twin brother Donald, a less talented but more joyous person than Charlie, who dreams of making a lot of money with screenplays. The movie also shows Susan Orlean as she does her research for the book, and John Laroche, a colorful orchid hunter whom Susan interviews and, later, falls in love with. These stories eventually intertwine, with unpredictable results.—Eddie G.

John Laroche (Chris Cooper) and his wife run a successful Florida nursery, but tragedy strikes and Laroche's wife, mother and uncle are involved in a car accident. Laroche's mother and uncle are killed immediately, but his wife goes into a coma, divorcing Laroche and suing him once she regains consciousness. Laroche even lost most of his front teeth in the accident.

One month later, Laroche's home and everything he owns is destroyed by Hurricane Andrew. Meanwhile, local Seminoles hire Laroche due to his vast knowledge of flowers and orchid poaching. The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. However, the Seminoles only use the extract of the Ghost Orchid for illicit drug use, and not for tribal ceremonials as Laroche thought. Laroche had to go deep into the state preserve park, and traverse the swamps, to find the right kind of Orchids.

Laroche is caught at the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park and admits that he removed 130 plants from the reserve and most of them are endangered Orchids. Laroche argues with the Park Ranger Tony (Jim Beaver) that the Native Americans are exempt from preservation laws at the reserve.

The ensuing trial captures the attention of New Yorker journalist Susan Orlean (Meryl Streep). Susan had researched the topic and knew that many explorers had perished in the jungles in search for exotic Orchids. Susan listens to Laroche's testimony and finds that Laroche is a leading expert on the topic of Orchids. Laroche says that he is the only one in the world who knows how to cultivate a Ghost Orchid.

Laroche knew that so long as he did not touch the plant, the state of Florida did not have a case against him. His plan was to make the Orchid easily available in stores, so the poaching of the Preserve could stop. Laroche says that each Orchid has a special relationship with an insect that pollinates it.

Laroche and Susan become great friends, with Susan writing The Orchid Thief. Laroche and Susan then become romantically involved, while Susan is still married, albeit unhappily, in New York. The Orchid Thief is then optioned by Columbia Pictures.

The self-loathing and agoraphobic Charlie Kaufman (Nicholas Cage) is hired to write the screenplay for The Orchid Thief. Charlie meets Valerie Thomas (Tilda Swinton) for a business meeting Valerie represents Columbia Pictures. Charlie tells Valerie that he does not want to force a plot or a narrative on the movie, and wants to allow it to develop naturally. Valerie says that the studio likes the idea of Orlean and Laroche falling in love.

Charlie is going through melancholic depression and is not happy that his twin brother Donald has moved into his house and is mooching off him. Charlie continually imagines what activities would make him happier but is unable to reach a conclusion as he procrastinates about everything. Charlie's mind wanders into all directions at once and as such he is in a constant state of paralysis, always thinking, but not really doing anything about it. He believes that all his anxieties could be a result of chemical imbalances within his body or misfiring Synapses.

Charlie was the screenwriter for "Being John Malkovich", but he was ignored on sets. Charlie feels depressed that he is 40 years old, and nobody even knows his name.

Donald decides to become a screenwriter like Charlie and attends Robert McKee's famous seminars. Charlie says that anyone pretending to have the answer to everyone's problems would only attract the most desperate of the lot in society. Charlie is anyways nervous as nobody has ever written a movie about flowers till date. Charlie considers this his journey into the unknown world of self-discovery. Charlie occasionally meets his ex-girlfriend Amelia who says that it is a good thing that Charlie picked the Orchid script as he needs work to focus his thoughts.

Charlie, who rejects simplistic formulaic script writing, wants to ensure that his script is a faithful adaptation of The Orchid Thief. However, he comes to realize that there is no narrative to the book and that it is impossible to turn into a film, leaving Charlie with a serious case of writer's block.

Meanwhile, Donald's script for a cliched psychological thriller, called The 3, sells for six or seven figures, while Charlie accidentally starts writing his script with self-reference. Already well over his deadline with Columbia Pictures, Charlie visits Susan (Meryl Streep) in New York for advice on the screenplay. Unable to face her, Charlie visits McKee's seminar in New York and asks him for advice and then brings Donald to New York to assist with the story structure.

Donald pretends to be Charlie and interviews Susan but is suspicious of her account of events because it is too perfect. He and Charlie follow Orlean to Florida, where she meets John Laroche, the orchid-stealing protagonist of her book and her secret lover. It is revealed that the Seminole wanted the ghost orchid to manufacture a mind-altering drug that causes fascination. Laroche introduces the drug to Orlean. After Laroche and Orlean catch Charlie observing them taking the drug and having sex, Orlean decides that Charlie must be killed to prevent him from potentially exposing them.

She forces him at gunpoint to drive to the swamp where she will kill him. Charlie and Donald escape and hide in the swamp where they resolve their differences and Charlie's problems with women. Then, Laroche accidentally shoots Donald. Fleeing, Charlie and Donald drive off but crash into a ranger's truck. Donald is ejected through the windshield and dies moments later, but Charlie is saved by the airbag and runs into the swamp to hide. There he is spotted by Laroche, who is killed by an alligator before he can kill Charlie.

Susan is arrested. Charlie then makes up with his mother, tells his former love interest, Amelia (Cara Seymour), that he is still in love with her, and finishes the script. She responds that she loves him too. It ends with Charlie in a voice-over announcing the script is finished and that he wants Gérard Depardieu to portray him in the film.