At a Glance

A screenwriter with no self-belief and a freeloading twin brother, struggles with his latest commission and the original author.

Detailed Information

Screenwriter Kaufman (Nicolas Cage), a hot commodity after penning the quirky Being John Malkovich, is hired by a big movie studio to adapt the best-selling novel The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean (Meryl Streep). As Kaufman delves into the book, Susan, a writer for The New Yorker, is sent to do a story on John Laroche (Chris Cooper), a man who steals orchids from the Florida Everglades, and forms an odd attachment to him.

Meanwhile, the introspective Kaufman lets his insecurities get the better of him and he simply can't find a way to write a movie about flowers. Finally, he decides to write the screenplay about his experience trying to adapt the novel. He elicits the help of his gregarious twin brother Donald (also Cage), a budding screenwriter himself, who's taken a more commercial, formulaic route to writing (Donald's current screenplay is about a cop, a serial killer and a victim--who are all the same person).

Eventually all these individuals come together, where the story gets even more convoluted. Suffice to say, you'll just have to go see the film to get it.