In Los Angeles, California, Charlie, a free spirit who dabbles in art and fashion design, supports herself by walking dogs and working odd jobs. One day, she notices an attractive man running on the beach and runs into him later at a coffee shop. Charlie tells her friends Remy and Morgan about him, and they tease her about her nonexistent love life. Morgan, a caterer, solicits Charlie and Remy’s help at a private party. While serving appetizers to the guests, Charlie realizes that the man from the beach, Kevin Fields, is the host of the party, and Morgan informs her that Kevin is a surgeon who just moved to L.A. from San Francisco. Carrying a tray of food, Charlie ogles Kevin and is caught eavesdropping on a conversation he is having with his attractive female friend, Fiona. Despite Fiona’s cool dismissal of Charlie, Kevin introduces himself. Hoping to stifle a budding romance, Fiona later tells Charlie that Kevin is a homosexual. When Kevin leaves Charlie a voicemail, asking her out on a date, Charlie does not return his call. However, they run into each other at the beach and Kevin asks her out once again. Confused, Charlie asks if Kevin is homosexual, and he assures her otherwise. When Kevin’s mother calls his pager, he explains that his mother contacts him multiple times a day. Meanwhile, Kevin’s mother, Viola Fields, is fired from her job as a talk show host just before she must film a segment. Holding back tears, Viola loses her temper while interviewing a vapid pop singer and attacks the girl while they are on the air. Months later, Viola is released from a private clinic and assures her therapist that she plans to spend time with her son. On the way home, Viola learns from her assistant, Ruby, that Kevin has a new girlfriend. Struggling with the new information, Viola suggests that the relationship cannot be too serious. Back in Los Angeles, Charlie sublets her apartment and moves into Kevin’s home. Before having lunch with Kevin’s mother at her mansion, Charlie views photographs of Viola with various celebrities while awaiting her arrival. Ruby begs Kevin to leave, warning him that Viola is not emotionally stable enough to meet his girlfriend, but Viola finally appears and reluctantly greets Charlie. While drinking tea, Kevin is amazed at how easily Charlie and Viola get along. Kevin surprises Charlie with a marriage proposal, and she happily accepts while Viola fantasizes about shoving the girl’s face into a cake. Viola deduces that Charlie must be pregnant and announces to the couple that marriage is not a viable solution to an unexpected pregnancy. Offended, Kevin denies that Charlie is pregnant. Receiving a message on his pager, Kevin leaves the room to make a call, and Viola tries to convince Charlie that her engagement is too sudden. Later, Viola yells at Ruby in disbelief that her son is going to marry a “temp.” Viola instructs Ruby to investigate Charlie’s past. Sometime later, Viola hosts a lavish engagement party, and provides Charlie and Kevin with black-tie attire when they arrive. While Charlie and Kevin change in separate bedrooms, Viola sends Fiona to Kevin’s room, where she reminds him of their one sexual tryst and attempts to seduce him. Discovering that her dress is too small, Charlie hurries into Kevin’s room but storms out when she sees Fiona kissing her fiancé. Kevin convinces Charlie that Fiona ambushed him and offers to take her home. Soon after, Ruby tells a crying Viola that she cannot find any damning information about Charlie’s past. Deciding that the only way to get rid of Charlie is to drive her crazy, Viola invites Charlie to lunch at a country club and informs her of the elaborate plans she has already made for the wedding and honeymoon. Frustrated, Charlie raises her voice and refuses Viola’s help, prompting Viola to fake a heart attack. At the hospital, Kevin learns from Viola’s physician, Dr. Chamberlain, that his mother might be on the verge of a psychotic breakdown and needs constant supervision. Kevin must leave town on business, so Charlie agrees to take care of Viola. On their first night alone together, Charlie wakes up to the sound of Viola sobbing and tends to her. Viola demands pills and bottled water, then insists that Charlie sleep in bed with her. Pretending to have a nightmare, Viola slaps and yells at her bedmate. The next day at work, Charlie is exhausted. She comes home to find that Viola has cooked dinner, an unappetizing kidney pie that Charlie pretends to like. Under the guise of adding Charlie to her will, Viola interrogates her future daughter-in-law about the status of her citizenship and her willingness to sign a prenuptial agreement. Later, Viola dresses in a strange costume that she claims was a gift from the Dalai Lama and keeps Charlie up all night by chatting incessantly. The next day, while Viola is out, Morgan and Remy visit and Remy discovers a dossier of information about Charlie hidden in Viola’s closet. He opens a bottle of Viola’s anti-anxiety pills and notices they smell like oranges. Charlie gives the pills to a doctor, who determines the pills are simply vitamins. Charlie spies on Viola and Ruby at a restaurant and recognizes their waiter as the man who posed as “Dr. Chamberlain.” Seeking revenge, Charlie replaces Viola’s vitamins with sleeping pills, causing her to pass out with her face buried in a plate of food. When Kevin returns from his trip, he joins Viola and Charlie for a lunch date. Determined to outwit Viola, Charlie asks her to be matron of honor and presents Viola with an unfashionable peach dress to wear at the wedding. Hinting that she knows “Dr. Chamberlain” is a fake, Charlie reveals that she recently dined at the restaurant where he works. When Kevin leaves the table, Charlie demands that Viola move out and stop tormenting her, and Viola complies. At the rehearsal dinner before the wedding, Charlie surprises Viola by inviting “Dr. Chamberlain,” whose real name is Paul, but Viola has invited Fiona, another unwelcome guest. Aware that Charlie is allergic to nuts, Viola crushes almonds into the gravy, and although Ruby convinces her not to serve it, Paul picks up the gravy dish and pours it on Charlie’s meal. Charlie suffers an allergic reaction and cries as her lips swell up. On the morning of her wedding, the bride is happy to discover that her face has returned to normal. To spite Charlie, Viola shows up in Charlie’s dressing room wearing a white gown instead of her peach bridesmaid dress. An argument between the two escalates, and the women slap each other in the face multiple times. A curmudgeonly older woman named Gertrude appears, and Charlie discovers that she is Kevin’s grandmother and Viola’s mother-in-law. Charlie watches as Viola and Gertrude bicker, noting the irony when Gertrude says Viola was too low-class to marry her son. After Gertrude storms out, Charlie tells Viola that their relationship is doomed. Despite her desire to marry Kevin, she cannot bear to fight with Viola for the rest of her life. Charlie finds Kevin before the wedding, but Viola stops her before she calls the wedding off, pulling Charlie aside and begging her to marry her son. Charlie suggests they create boundaries for the future, including a limit to the number of times Viola can call Kevin each day. Viola promises to abstain from child rearing advice unless Charlie asks for it, and is touched when Charlie asks her to spend all holidays and special occasions with them. Viola changes into her peach dress before the wedding ceremony, and after Charlie and Kevin are married, Viola catches Charlie’s bouquet.