Finding the secret of life in a cheap booklet priced at $9.99, an unemployed and down-on-his luck man named Dave Peck (Samuel Johnson) tries to share this epiphany with others. His neighbors are on their own tangents and not inclined to listen to him. One fellow apartment dweller named Albert (Barry Otto) has, in fact, an Angel (Geoffrey Rush) of dubious heritage, taking up residence with him and with whom he wants to have meaningful discussions. Dave’s father Jim Peck (Anthony LaPaglia) becomes obsessed with doing pointless good for the homeless, and others, like his brother Lenny (Ben Mendelsohn), have more venal pursuits, like wanting to impress a supermodel named Tanita (Leanna Walsman). The gem of meaningful knowledge eludes them all.