Charlie Kaufman is a struggling L.A. screenwriter who becomes overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy and faces writer's block while adapting Susan Orlean's novel "The Orchid Thief". His life intertwines with Orlean's as they both search for passion, leading to a series of bizarre events. The lives of Kaufman and Orlean become strangely connected, culminating in an alligator killing Donald, the twin brother who had been freeloading at Kaufman's house and pretending to be him.