- A successful advertising executive finds his freewheeling life crashing to a halt when his parents end their longtime marriage.
- David Basner is a successful advertising executive who has it all: Money, happiness, and women who want him. Then one day his world falls apart when his mother leaves his father. Now, he must balance his life between his mother, who is happy with her newfound independence, and his father, a recently laid off salesman who is hard-headed, stubborn, and hides a lot from David. Now David must cope with the downfall of his family and his life.—Pat McCurry <ccgrad97@aol.com>
- David Basner should be riding the crest of a wave of what is, by most accounts, a successful and happy life achieved in his general confidence in himself. He has just been promoted to an "office with windows" job as creative director at the Chicago advertising firm Boyle, Gargas and Lionel, he sticking it out with them as opposed to getting a job with another firm, which he could easily do, in aiming for adding "Basner" at the end of the company name. In that role, he has just won the Colonial Airlines account, his path to partner which may be dependent on the campaign he develops for Colonial. His easy charm allows him to get almost any woman he wants, even the latest, Cheryl Ann Wayne, which under the circumstances he should not have gotten. And one of his ex-girlfriends, Donna Martin, a professor in experimental theater, remains his best friend and confidante. But riding that crest hits a bump when his mother, Lorraine Basner, without any outward indication beforehand, leaves David's father, Max Basner, after thirty-six years of being together in Lorraine discovering that she and Max have always been incompatible and that David unwittingly acted as their buffer when he was still at home. David has always had a strained relationship with children's apparel salesman Max, but now has to act as the mediator between his parents and caregiver especially to Max who has never taken care of himself. While that strain still exists between him and Max exacerbated by what he learns of his parents' relationship, things take a further turn when it is discovered that Max, who has a ostrich mentality in not wanting to know anything bad, has a potentially life threatening health issue, a manifestation of his diabetes, which ends up trumping all else in David's life.—Huggo
- Happy-go-lucky advertising executive David Basner (Tom Hanks), who recently got a promotion at his Chicago ad agency, returns to work from a vacation. He is utterly carefree until his parents split up after 36 years of marriage.
Out of the blue, he must care for his aging, bitter father Max (Jackie Gleason), as well as be there for his emotionally fragile mother, Lorraine (Eva Marie Saint). To add insult to injury, Max has just been fired from his 35-year career in the garment industry.
At work, David is developing a commercial for Colonial Airlines, owned by the rich and eccentric Andrew Woolridge (Barry Corbin). A successful ad campaign would likely promote David to partner in his company. At the same time, David develops a romantic relationship with Woolridge's daughter, the no-nonsense Cheryl Ann Wayne (Sela Ward). His father is well aware of David's playboy nature. Asking at one point if his son is in bed with a woman, Max adds: "Anybody you know?"
Over the next few months, the parents begin to rely more and more on David, calling him on the phone constantly. His mother needs help moving to a new apartment. His father needs to be driven to an eye doctor. Lorraine needs to be rescued in a bar after going out on a date with another man, having become frightened when he tried to kiss her goodnight.
David's mother then confides to him that Max cheated on her and humiliated her. An enraged David goes to confront Max. Their argument ends with David saying: "Tomorrow I'm shooting a commercial about a family who loves each other, who cares about each other. I'm fakin' it."
The next day, David is distracted by the deteriorating relationship with his father and it affects his work. As a peace offering, David offers to take Max to a nightclub to hear some of the jazz music Max likes. It is there that David accidentally discovers a secret Max has been hiding from the family: he has severe diabetes. When Max takes off his shoes to dance to the jazz music, David sees that his father's right foot is gangrened.
Max must go to the hospital for his foot to be amputated. While awaiting surgery, he and Lorraine share their thoughts about their life together, with Lorraine condemning him for doing what he did to himself and to her. Max sobs over his mistakes once he is alone.
At the agency, Andrew Woolridge insists that David go to New York with him to promote his new ad campaign. David refuses, saying he wants to stay with his sick father. Woolridge complains that it's unnecessary for business must come first. David tells him off and is quickly fired.
The next day, David accompanies his dad to the operating room. His boss Charlie (Hector Elizondo) assures him that he will personally smooth things over with Woolridge, so David should take some time off.
In the final scene, David goes back to the hospital where he learns from the doctor who performed the surgery that he managed to save Max's right foot, but had to amputate two toes. David enters Max's room to take him home. As David wheels Max through the hospital to his car to take him home, Max admits to his son: "You were the last person I thought would come through for me." Later, David gets his job back (although being fired earlier) and shows Max what he does for a living and Max is impressed at seeing what David does at work.
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