When Pat Solatano is released from an eight-month stay at the Karel Psychiatric Facility in Baltimore, Maryland, his mother, Dolores, arrives to pick him up. Pat asks Dolores to give Danny, a fellow patient, a ride back to their hometown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Dolores reluctantly agrees. However, once the three are on the road, she receives a call from the hospital and learns that Danny does not have permission to leave. Dolores returns Danny to Karel and reprimands Pat for lying to her. Later that day, Pat, Sr. is surprised to see his son when he and Dolores return home and asks if Pat was legally permitted to leave Karel, reminding them that the hospital stay was court-ordered. Dolores assures her husband that the release was court-approved, and they change the subject to Pat, Sr.’s plans to open a cheese steak restaurant. Concerned that Pat, Sr. has been making money through bookmaking, Pat asks how the operation will be funded, but Pat, Sr. urges him not to worry about it. Mentioning that he’s lost weight, Pat announces his plans to exercise and read the books listed on a class syllabus created by his wife Nikki, a high school teacher, in order to mend his broken marriage. Pat, Sr. warns that Nikki sold their house and moved on, but Pat ignores him. One night, Pat reads Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, one of the selections on Nikki’s syllabus, and becomes irate when he reaches the ending, throwing the book out the window and waking his parents to complain about it. The next day, Pat attends a mandatory therapy session. As he signs in at the doctor’s office, “My Cherie Amour,” a song by Stevie Wonder, is playing and Pat demands that the receptionist turn it off. When she says she can’t, Pat knocks over a magazine rack. As he sits down with Dr. Cliff Patel, Pat accuses the therapist of playing the song on purpose, and Cliff admits that he did it to see if the song still triggered a violent response. Pat explains to Cliff how he came to hate the song, which was his wedding song, saying that he came home from his high school teaching job one day to find Nikki and another teacher, Doug Culpepper, having sex in the shower while “My Cherie Amour” played on a stereo. Pat admits to snapping and brutally beating the man, but says he refuses to take any medication for his bipolar disorder because he dislikes how it makes him feel. Back at home, Pat’s father, Pat, Sr., who is highly superstitious, asks him to watch a Philadelphia Eagles football game on television, believing that Pat will turn the team’s luck around. Observing that Pat, Sr. holds a special handkerchief and frequently reorganizes his remote controls while watching the game, Pat accuses his father of obsessive-compulsive disorder and goes for a run. While running, Pat stops by the high school where he used to work, and the principal ushers him away. After returning home, Pat attempts to call Nikki but his father stops him, reminding him of the restraining order that forbids Pat from contacting her. The doorbell interrupts, and police officer Keogh appears, warning Pat to stay away from his old school and his old house as he is in danger of violating Nikki’s restraining order. In another session with Cliff, Pat tells the doctor the philosophy he adopted at Karel: if a person works as hard as he can and stays positive, he has a chance at a “silver lining.” Cliff encourages Pat to work on a strategy to use in moments when he becomes enraged. That Sunday, Pat goes to his friend Ronnie’s house for dinner with Ronnie, his wife Veronica, and her younger sister, Tiffany. After Pat learns that Tiffany’s husband Tommy, a police officer, recently died, he and Tiffany discuss the various psychotropic drugs they have been prescribed for mental problems. Abruptly, Tiffany leaves her seat at the dinner table and demands that Pat walk her home. Outside, Tiffany offers to have sex with Pat, but he refuses, reminding her that he is married. When she claims to be married too, Pat tells Tiffany that her husband is dead. Tiffany cries on Pat’s shoulder then slaps his face and storms away. At home, Pat searches for his wedding video in a panic and wakes his parents up in need of help. Tortured by mental images of his wife’s infidelity and his own violent response, Pat accidentally elbows his mother in his face. Pat, Sr. retaliates, and the father and son exchange punches until Officer Keogh shows up. The next day, Dolores and Pat, Sr. ensure that Pat takes his medication. On another run, Pat sees Tiffany, who confronts him about treating her poorly. Tiffany says she knows she has a reputation for being promiscuous, but she has passed that stage in her life and embraces both her flaws and her attributes, asking if Pat can say the same about himself. At Pat’s next therapy session, Cliff suggests that Tiffany might just need a friend and encourages Pat to be there for her. Soon after, Pat and Tiffany meet for dinner, and she offers to break the law by delivering a letter from Pat to Nikki. Tiffany admits to spiraling downward after Tommy’s death and getting fired from her job after sleeping with eleven different people at her office. Pat offends Tiffany by suggesting that she is crazier than he, and Tiffany storms out, rescinding her offer to deliver his letter. Outside a movie theater, Pat catches up to Tiffany but she makes a scene, shouting that Pat is harassing her. A group of teenagers, led by one of Pat’s neighbors, torments him by playing a recording of “My Cherie Amour,” and Pat tries to calm himself. When Officer Keogh arrives, Tiffany defends Pat, apologizing and saying that she called out for help as a joke. Pat brings his letter to Tiffany the next day, and she demands a return favor, asking Pat to be her partner at an upcoming dance competition. Soon after, Tiffany and Pat begin dance rehearsals at her house. When Pat doesn’t show enough emotion on the dance floor, Tiffany tells him the story of her husband’s death, explaining that Tommy was run over by a car while helping someone with a flat tire. Over time, they practice different styles of dance and Pat begins to improve. One morning, Pat, Sr. asks his son to go to the Eagles game on Sunday with his older brother, Jake, for good luck. He laments that he cannot go himself because he has been barred from the stadium after too many fistfights. Pat agrees and asks Tiffany if he can split his time between the game and dance rehearsal on Sunday. Tiffany does not approve, but provides Pat with a letter that Nikki has written in response to Pat’s. He reads the letter out loud, which states that Nikki is encouraged by Pat’s progress but still wary about their relationship. She writes that she needs to see something that proves Pat’s transformation. Tiffany suggests that the “something” Nikki needs to see could be their dance performance. That Sunday, Pat goes to the Eagles game with Jake and runs into Cliff at a tailgate party. When a group of racist fans appear, harassing Cliff and his Indian friends, Pat tries to stay out of the altercation but eventually joins the fray. Pat, Jake, and Cliff are arrested, and later, at the Solatano house, Pat, Sr. reprimands his sons, devastated that the Eagles lost and he no longer has the capital for his restaurant. Tiffany arrives, angry that Pat missed their dance practice, and Pat, Sr. blames the Eagles’ loss on Pat’s involvement with Tiffany. However, Tiffany argues that every time she and Pat have spent time together during an Eagles game, the Eagles have won. Pat, Sr.’s betting partner, Randy, offers Pat a chance to reclaim his money with another bet. They agree to a parlay, a two-part bet wherein Pat, Sr. must predict the winner of the Eagles’ game against the Dallas Cowboys as well as Pat and Tiffany’s score at the dance competition. Pat, Sr. bets on the Eagles and says that Tiffany and Pat will score a five out of ten with their dance. Pat discourages the bet by refusing to take part in the dance competition. He steps outside to re-read the letter from Nikki and notices a peculiar turn of phrase that Tiffany used only moments ago. Meanwhile, Tiffany tells Pat, Sr. and Dolores that the only way to get Pat to the competition is to lie to him and say Nikki will be there. The following Sunday, the Eagles game is underway as the dance competition begins at the Benjamin Franklin Hotel. Pat’s family and friends watch the Eagles game on a television in the hotel lobby while Pat and Tiffany head upstairs to check in. When Tiffany spots Nikki in the lobby, she panics and ambushes Ronnie and Veronica, who are friends with Nikki, wanting to know why they brought her there. Ronnie tells his sister-in-law that Pat should have a chance to repair his marriage. In tears, Tiffany disappears to the bar, drinks vodka, and flirts with a random man. Meanwhile, the Eagles win, and Pat, Sr. rushes to the dance floor to catch Pat and Tiffany’s performance. Pat finds Tiffany as their names are called and drags her to the dance floor, where they deliver a spirited, if unconventional, performance, earning an average score of 5.0. Having won the parlay for Pat, Sr., Tiffany and Pat scream in triumph. When Pat walks over to Nikki and whispers into her ear, however, Tiffany leaves the hotel in tears. Moments later, Pat looks for Tiffany but Pat, Sr. informs him that Tiffany left. Pat, Sr. says that Tiffany loves Pat and encourages his son to take advantage of the moment. Pat catches up to Tiffany outside and gives her a letter that he wrote one week ago declaring his love for her. They kiss passionately, and the next Sunday, Tiffany joins Pat’s family to watch the football game.

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