In 1989, in the west of Ireland, Donnie McNamara, tired of being a family disappointment, buys a one-way ticket to Tinseltown, to pursue his ridiculed dream of acting. Abe Nelson, a fallen Hollywood legend, now wallows in LA dive bars. Their worlds collide. Abe becomes an unlikely mentor and is catapulted into Donnie's fantastical endeavour. But will the journey to stardom end in red carpets or red faces?