An alarm clock awakens Lane Myer in his bedroom, which is filled with pictures of his girlfriend, Beth. Downstairs, Lane’s idiosyncratic mother Jenny serves boiled bacon to her husband, Al. Disturbed by the greenish breakfast meat, Al attempts to pour his own cereal, but each box he tries leaks cereal from a hole where their younger son, Badger, has prematurely cut out the proof-of-purchase labels for mail-in prizes. Al expresses concern to Jenny that their son is “obsessed” with his girlfriend. Meanwhile, Lane selects clothes from his closet where an image of Beth’s face is affixed to every hanger. Sprinting downstairs with a pair of skis, Lane skips breakfast, not wanting to be late for ski team tryouts. Al follows Lane outside to complain about the non-running Camaro that has been sitting in the driveway since Lane bought it. Across the street at the Smiths’ house, Monique, a French foreign exchange student, watches Lane from a window as he drives off. Meanwhile, Beth tells a friend over the phone that she plans to leave Lane for another guy, but she won’t tell him until after the tryouts. On a mountain, Roy, the arrogant ski captain, explains the rules of the tryouts and flirts with Beth. Lane, determined to impress his girlfriend, perfectly executes the run. He crosses the finish line in time to make the team, but Roy keeps his stopwatch running for a few extra seconds and unfairly disqualifies him. Afterwards, Beth breaks up with Lane. That night, he attempts to hang himself in the garage but stops after he has second thoughts. The next day, Al confronts Lane about the Camaro again, reminding his son that he only bought the car because Beth liked it. That night, Lane lies in bed with Beth’s picture and remembers the first time they met. On Lane’s drive to school the next day, every radio station plays a break-up song, causing Lane to throw his car stereo out the window. In math class, Lane sees Beth and reminisces about the first time they had sex. After class lets out, Lane’s math teacher approaches and asks if Lane would mind if he asked Beth out. Charles, Lane’s buddy, suggests a two-part solution for Lane to win Beth back: ski the K-12, the biggest, most dangerous ski run in town, and play the saxophone again. At lunch, Lane decides to boost his confidence by asking out Kris, the knockout blond who dates every member of the basketball team. However, Kris’s jock boyfriends beat him up after he accidentally pulls her cheerleader uniform down. After school, Lane sees Beth riding in the math teacher’s car. Driven to suicide once again, Lane stands on a bridge overlooking the highway. Charles arrives to talk him down, but he accidentally pushes Lane, who lands on a garbage truck as it passes under the bridge. The next day, attempting to ski the K-12, Lane takes a hard fall. Later, over Christmas break, Lane remains depressed. Monique endures an equally terrible holiday with her host family. Mrs. Smith tries to force a romantic connection between Monique and her socially inept, overweight son Ricky. Later, Lane tries to kill himself again, this time by starting a car in the closed garage. Dazed by the exhaust, Lane slumps forward onto the gearshift, throwing the car into reverse and through the garage door. Concerned about his son, Al sets up a date between Lane and a co-worker’s daughter to go to a school dance. Lane reluctantly agrees, but, when he arrives to pick her up, the girl simply asks for the money Lane would have spent on dinner and he writes her a check. Lane ends up at the dance with Charles. When Monique arrives with Ricky, she runs into Lane outside and they flirt, even though Monique speaks no English. Later, Lane starts a job at a fast food restaurant, but is fired on his first day for daydreaming and ruining the burgers. Down on himself again, Lane takes a jar labeled primer from the garage to use in another suicide attempt. On the way to his room, Jenny escorts him to the dining room to join their dinner guests, Monique and her host family. Mrs. Smith proclaims that Ricky and Monique are in love, then accidentally drinks from Lane’s jar. When she lights her cigarette, Mrs. Smith’s face catches fire. The next day Lane drives Monique and Ricky to school as Mrs. Smith is incapacitated. Later, while Lane and Monique eat lunch together, Roy approaches and challenges Lane to a race on the K-12. Roy promises to make Lane ski captain if he wins, but Lane declines. Roy then flirts with Monique, but she responds by shaking up a soda can and spraying him. Inspired by Monique’s actions, Lane accepts Roy’s challenge. Later, Monique angrily throws fruit at a street sign in the Smiths’ front yard. Lane joins her outside, and Monique reveals that she speaks perfect English but has hidden it from the Smiths. The following Saturday, Lane finds Monique working on his Camaro. The two spend the day working on the car and eventually fix it. That night, Lane takes Monique to a romantic dinner and plays the saxophone for her. The next morning, before the race against Roy, Lane skis with Monique, who is also an expert skier. At the bottom of the mountain, she gives him words of encouragement and they kiss for the first time. On his way to the race, Lane realizes that one of his skis is broken. He hastily makes it to the top of the K-12 just in time. Lane and Roy race down the hill, and Lane wins with only one ski. Beth kisses Lane at the finish line, but he thinks of Monique and goes after her. As Mrs. Smith and Ricky drag Monique to their car, Lane stops them. He engages Ricky in a swordfight with ski poles, and wins. Victorious, Lane hoists Monique over his shoulders and walks away.