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?