19-year-old Jack Ariamehr toils daily as a 'sign spinner' on the street corners of New York. But under the gaze of the State of Liberty, he dreams of bigger things -- and who wouldn't? No one is more aware of this than Jack's teacher, Bobby Blue Day -- an ex-Hollywood screenwriter who shows up at Jack's apartment early one morning eager to talk about Jack's screenplay. To Bobby's astonishment, J.F.K. Ariamehr has written the best screenplay he's ever read. And Bobby will do anything to get a piece of this last chance at the American dream.

Is there room for principle in Los Angeles? Mike Terry teaches jujitsu and barely makes ends meet. His Brazilian wife, whose family promotes fights, wants to see Mike in the ring making money, but to him competition is degrading. A woman sideswipes Mike's car and then, after an odd sequence of events, shoots out the studio's window. Later that evening, Mike rescues an action movie star in a fistfight at a bar. In return, the actor befriends Mike, gives him a gift, offers him work on his newest film, and introduces Mike's wife to his own - the women initiate business dealings. Then, things go sour all at once, Mike's debts mount, and going into the ring may be his only option.