Roger is an aspiring songwriter who has emotionally shut down after his girlfriend's suicide. Despite his attraction, he is reluctant to start a new romance with his downstairs neighbor Mimi Marquez, an exotic dancer struggling with baggage of her own.
Roger's roommate Mark is a filmmaker trying to balance art and commerce. His girlfriend Maureen, a self-indulgent performance artist, recently left him for a lawyer named Joanne.
Also part of this close-knit circle is Tom Collins, a professor of philosophy who, after being mugged, is rescued by his soul mate, a high-spirited street drummer, Angel Shunard.
Benny, who alienated his friends after he married their landlord's daughter, has reneged on his promise to provide rent-free artist space to his bohemian friends. Once a close friend, he is now viewed as the enemy, threatening them with eviction.
