On Simon's 29th birthday his father Mogens, who has not been part of his and his older brother Jens' lives for many years, suddenly turns up - declaring that he wants to give him a sports car. Mogens is mentally ill and has been in and out of hospital for years, and as he becomes more and more agitated and violent, Jens has to take him back to the hospital. However Mogens manages to talk Jens into helping him find the car. For one day and one night the two of them drive around Copenhagen looking for the car, and the trip becomes a moving odyssey where father and son will finally get to know one another.

Rasmus defends his Ph.D in Danish literature entitled "The Romantic Idiot", but with his special qualifications there are not many jobs around. To reduce his study loan he settles for a temporary teaching job at an adult education programme in the provincial town of Korsør. Here, Rasmus meets a complex group of people and takes part in their lives. He falls dramatically in love with one of his pupils, Signe, who dreams of having a child with her partner, Camilla. Playing the role of a romantic idiot in Korsør just isn't plain sailing for Rasmus.