Larry Kozinksi and his wife, Tish, attend the wedding of Larry’s Uncle Phil, who is marrying an Italian woman named Edie. At the reception, Larry gives a heartfelt toast to the older couple while his teenage son, Mitch, captures the event on video. Also in attendance are Edie’s daughter, Maria, and Maria’s husband of eleven years, Tom Hardy, a hot-headed car salesman who notices Tish Kozinski from across the room. Outside, Tom gets into a shoving match with a cousin who claims Tom sold him a faulty car, and stalks off. Intrigued, Tish follows. As the reception winds down, Maria and Larry wait for their spouses to return. Larry introduces himself as a ballroom dance teacher and Maria says she is a legal secretary. She confesses that she felt like crying tears of joy for her mother during the wedding but has never been able to cry, then questions why she is revealing such personal information to a stranger. Larry, who is on his second marriage, recalls being unhappy as a securities analyst and real estate broker, and says people like to confide in dance teachers. He gives her his business card for a free lesson. Returning in a fluster, Tom says he took Tish for a test drive in his BMW, but the car broke down, causing them to be late. He continues to elaborate on the story as he and Maria go home with their young daughter, Chloe. That night, in their Chinatown apartment, Tish encourages Larry to take a job with his Uncle Phil, who owns a lucrative junkyard, but Larry ignores her suggestion and continues playing his trombone. Guilt-ridden after her fling with Tom, Tish promises Larry she would never hurt him, then plays a cassette tape from her psychic, Mrs. Wong, repeating the personal affirmation: “I approve of myself.” The next day, Tom breaks up with three different mistresses before visiting Tish at the make-up counter where she works. He warns her against telling Larry about their tryst and claims he is changing his ways but contradicts himself by asking her out. Maria visits Tom’s dance studio and he asks her to lunch. As they walk through a market, Maria broaches the subject of their spouses’ infidelity, and Larry pretends not to care. He tells Maria he believes in freedom of choice, but breaks down and admits he is livid. Discussing their relationships, Maria says she met Tom in high school, just after she moved to the U.S. from Italy, and was the only girl who refused to sleep with Tom, a star football player. They contemplate confronting their spouses but decide it is pointless. Tom returns home that night with a new scarf for Maria and begins to cook for her. In turn, she unapologetically states that she went to lunch with Larry. Soon after, Edie and Phil host a party at their lake house. Lounging on the lawn, Maria asks Phil about Larry, but their conversation is interrupted when Tom gets into another fistfight with his cousin. Turning back to Phil, Maria discovers that he has suddenly died. Later, Vince, Larry’s father and Phil’s brother, shows up to Phil’s funeral. Afterward, Vince apologizes to Edie for missing the wedding and commiserates with her, explaining that he lost his wife of thirty-five years. Tom and Tish slip away early for another tryst, and Larry takes Maria for a motorcycle ride. He shows her an old boat he is fixing up and talks about sailing it one day, and Maria comments that Larry has a rich fantasy life. On the dock, they pass a stand with sunhats, and Maria says that Tom dislikes her in hats. Larry buys her one of the hats to agitate her husband, and remarks that Tish hates boxer shorts. Tom takes notice when Larry drops Maria off at his car dealership, and later, he interrupts Tish at work to inform her that Larry and Maria are having an affair. Although she does not believe him, she changes her mind after Larry and Maria orchestrate a run-in at a restaurant and she notices the way Larry looks at Maria. She goes to the bathroom to cry, and Maria follows her in to apologize. Tish asks if Maria bought Larry boxer shorts, and Maria admits she did but says she and Larry were only playing a game and apologizes. Tish cries all the way home, astonished by how nice Maria was to her. At another wedding of a mutual family member, Maria and Larry make Tish and Tom jealous by stealing time with each other. Tish gets drunk and complains to Tom that their spouses’ affair is their fault, and Tom throws a punch at Larry but misses and destroys the wedding cake. Vince, who has taken a liking to Edie, asks her on a date, and she agrees only when he promises to pay. Meanwhile, Larry escorts Maria and Tom home and helps put Tom to bed. Maria insists they stop seeing each other but laments that Larry has become her best friend. That night, Edie reprimands Maria for her adulterous behavior. Soon after, Larry surprises Maria at the train station on her way to work and convinces her to go away with him. They rent a lakeside cabin for the day and make love for hours. Maria only becomes remorseful when she lies about her whereabouts to her daughter, Chloe, over the phone. Offering Larry a chance to make up his mind, Tish moves out of their apartment, and visits Tom at work. They rent a motel room, but the sex is not as good as it was before and Tish realizes Tom is only comfortable when he feels no responsibility toward a lover. Maria visits Larry as he works on his boat and he whimsically suggests they open a restaurant together. Maria tells him she must end the affair in order to spend more time with Chloe, who has been acting up at school in a bid for attention. She admits she has been crying a lot lately and they indulge in one more passionate kiss. Months later, Vince and Edie are married, and the wedding is attended by Tom and Maria, and Larry and Tish, who arrive separately. At the reception, Larry congratulates Tish on her latest promotion and she lovingly assures him that he did not hurt her. Maria offers to leave early with Tom, but he insists on staying. When Larry asks Maria to dance, however, Tom intervenes and threatens to fight him. Tom then asks Maria to spend the rest of her life with him, and Maria stops Tom from attacking Larry, saying yes to the dance. Sometime later, a home video taken by Mitch shows Larry, Maria and Chloe boarding Larry’s boat. As Mitch sails away with them, a restaurant called Maria’s can be seen behind them on the dock.