| Director | Clive Donner |
|---|---|
| Genre | comedy film |
| Runtime | 93 min |
| Country | United States |
| Box office | $1 million |
Scrawny Harry Berlin is a barely functional human being, about to tentatively jump off a bridge. As he contemplates his suicide attempt, he is distracted by Milt Manville, an old friend from fifteen years ago. Harry doesn't really recognize him at first, but Milt's force of personality steers Harry away from the bridge and into his company. There appears to be a contrast between the two of them, with Milt boasting of how well he is doing in life while Harry tries to listen.
Milt takes Harry to his house to meet Ellen Manville, Milt's long-suffering wife. She is complaining that their sex life is non-existent, unaware Milt has a secret lover in the form of beautiful blonde Linda, a fitness instructor. Milt convinces a barely-there Harry to make a go of things with Ellen, to inspire her to seek a divorce from him that she has been otherwise unwilling to grant. It takes a while but Harry and Ellen eventually fall in love. They marry and go to Niagara Falls for their honeymoon, but shortly Ellen realizes that Harry is the world's worst roommate and childish at heart. In one example, Harry unexpectedly stomps on Ellen's toe in order to test her love for him. As she hobbles in pain, she asks, "What did you do that for?" In response, he asks her if she still loves him, and she says she does. They proceed to exchange escalating blows and public humiliations to each other, to keep proving their love can withstand conflict.
Milt, who has been left with little resources in the divorce settlement, quickly marries Linda and they settle down as a couple in a comparably smaller apartment. Linda has quit her fitness work, and has been content to stay at home and lounge, forcing Milt to be the sole provider. To sustain their standard of living, Milt sells some of their household items to previous clients of his part-time junk business for a quick buck. Linda immediately dumps him, which causes Milt to be further economically decimated, and wanting Ellen back when he realizes how much he truly loves her. Ellen admits in turn that she doesn't really love Harry as much as she thought, as his bizarre day-to-day activities get to her. Milt and Ellen plot to get back together and convince Harry to divorce her, but in desperation to keep their new marriage intact, Harry agrees to get a job as an elevator operator in a department store, to prove he can be an equal partner in their home.
Milt and Ellen then get the idea of trying to make Harry fall in love with the pretty blonde Linda, unaware that the two have had a disastrous encounter during his ill-fated tenure at the department store. When they are brought together by the ex-spouses at a Japanese restaurant, they react badly to seeing each other again and make a scene. As a last resort, Milt orchestrates bringing Harry back to the bridge he previously found him, to either induce him to suicide or fake it by pushing him off. Ellen, meeting them at the bridge, is horrified at the concept, but does attempt to assist Milt; between her reticence and Harry's frequent tics and blackouts, it is Milt who twice falls off the bridge. In attempting to retrieve him from a scaffold on his second fall, Ellen too is endangered. Linda, taking a late-night power walk, is enlisted by Harry to try raising the scaffold to bring Milt and Ellen to safety, but instead all of them end up in the water. Harry, who cannot swim, is kept afloat by the athletic Linda, and becomes attracted to her, while Milt and Ellen reaffirm their love for each other.