Claude is a landscaper who is having a terrible day. He has been abandoned by his girl friend, humiliated by his boss, and just vented his rage on an innocent girl scout selling cookies. Later he is burning pictures of his girlfriend when something goes amiss and he ends up torching his apartment building. He is then arrested and released twice. On his way home from the police station he meets the charming Beatrice, an illegal French immigrant who is caring for a Cambodian orphan and trying to avoid the police who may want her for murder. Feeling sorry for her, Claude invites her to move in with him and his strange family. She ends up having a positive effect on all of them, especially the heretofore aimless Claude.