Jack Lemmon stars in an Academy Award-nominated performance as Scottie Templeton, a Broadway press agent dying of cancer, in Bernard Slade's film adaptation of his Broadway play (in which Lemmon originated the role). Divorced from his wife Maggie (Lee Remick), Scottie leads a happy-go-lucky life until he is informed by his doctor (Colleen Dewhurst) that he has contracted leukemia. She tells him that, without treatment, he will die. Scottie is unsure whether he wants to bother with the treatment, but he has some unfinished business with his son Jud (Robby Benson), a serious-minded person who scorns Scottie's job. As their relationship begins to improve, Scottie begins to reconsider his decision against the cancer treatments.