Claire Goldstein (Alicia Witt) is a 23-year old classical pianist and student in San Francisco who gets dumped by a boyfriend, is evicted from her home following an earthquake and rejected by a major music competition, and becomes romantically involved with a charming two-timer (Ivan Sergei). But her troubles are just starting: she's forced to move back in with her parents (Elliott Gould and Marlo Thomas) while she attempts to make an emotional recovery from all the sudden turmoil. But the spiral continues downward, and before long she's even disappointed her faithful teacher, Bennett (Harvey Fierstein). Can Claire be redeemed?