Val Waxman (Woody Allen) is an award-winning director who has jumped the shark and is now in Canada shooting deodorant commercials for nickels and dimes and, well, animal pelts. So when his ex-wife Ellie (Téa Leoni) and her new husband, slick Hollywood studio exec Hal Yeager (Treat Williams), ask him to helm Galaxy Pictures' next big-budget movie, he reluctantly signs the deal. Unfortunately, the script for The City That Never Sleeps reminds Val of his own failed relationship with his son and causes him to go psychosomatically blind. Poor Val doesn't want to lose this much-needed gig, and allows his agent Al (Mark Rydell) to persuade him to direct the film anyway, which means keeping his blindness a secret. To make matters worse, the publicity department has given a reporter from Esquire magazine the green light to cover the daily happenings on the set. Needless to say, no one can do a better job than Allen of talking and gesticulating to the air, walking into large objects and falling off sets.