Tired of married life and of his profession, Carlo decides to leave the company he owns in the hands of his wife and leaves home to move to a rented house in the heart of old Rome. The man's son, Paolo, is a playwright looking for a coveted success and he too is looking for a new apartment: due to a mistake by the agency, they both end up sharing the same room. However, the two have an irreconcilable character and soon their differences come to light, with the situation taking a further unexpected turn with the arrival of the second son Giacomo and his wife Francesca, who is expecting a child.

With her father on trial, 15-year-old Mignon leaves Paris to stay with her Italian relatives. The rather prim, snooty teen at first struggles to fit in with the more earthy Forbicioni family, each with their own problems. Eventually she bonds with her lovestruck little cousin Giorgio—who'll learn important life lessons over the course of his summer with Mignon.

In 71 BC in Rome, utter disorder reigns in the form of political corruption and bribery involving the senator Cynic (Leslie Nielsen). The situation is claimed to be similar to the “Tangentopoli” situation in Italy in the 1990s: one of the politicians involved was Bettino Craxi.