Three bright urbanites want to make their mark on the world. Paul a master of irony and distance is a hardworking filmmaker on the rise. His girlfriend Karen a grad student must get on with her thesis or find a life outside of academia. Dave a lifelong buddy whose brilliance is being consumed by increasingly severe episodes of manic depression is camping on Paul's couch. Paul and Karen decide to turn Dave into a documentary. The camera is on twenty-four hours a day capturing up-close images of his jags and torpors and their responses. How far will love friendship and ambition take this hip trio?