New York City. Melvin Udall, a cranky, bigoted, obsessive-compulsive writer, finds his life turned upside down when neighboring gay artist Simon is hospitalized and his dog is entrusted to Melvin. In addition, Carol, the only waitress who will tolerate him, must leave work to care for her sick son, making it impossible for Melvin to eat breakfast.

Very different lives, becomes interweaved during what seems like an ordinary day. Franzis Namazi (Danny Glover) is a newly arrived immigrant from Gambia to Sweden. He is about to give up on his little store selling African art. Karin Carlsson-Said (Tuva Novotny) is a lawyer who is about to enter a new important step in her career as a lawyer. Her husband Moses (Peter Gardiner) must send money to his hospitalized father in Uganda, but there are problems with the transaction and has issues with keeping up his work as a Social Worker. Bosse (Ulf Brunnberg) is the TV star who finds out he has been fired off his own show and finds his young wife with another man, Hakan (Stefan Sauk) is a charming celebrity with an alcohol problem and now once again needs help from his lawyer Karin Carlsson-Said