Mike, a somewhat cocky thirty-something, loses his job, his girlfriend, his car, and his apartment during a recession. At his lowest, the best job he can find is waiter in a donut-bagel shop. But that doesn't stop him from dreaming big.
Synopsis: Mike Jordan is an ambitious, somewhat cocky, thirty-something salesman for a building leasing company in Tampa Bay area. Every morning on his way to work he stops at a small coffee shop to pick up coffee and a bagel. Every day he wears the same lucky yellow tie. Mike’s Boss is fond of pointing out the precarious nature of being employed in a down-turn economy. The Boss fires an older employee, giving Mike the opportunity to market a small office building. Mike envisions it as a stepping-stone to a large building still under construction. Mike’s girlfriend, Yvonna, a gorgeous fashion model, likes dating a man who drives a luxury car and spends money freely on her. More cost-cutting causes the Boss to replace Mike with a minority-hire; a lactating Hispanic woman returning from maternity leave. Mike confides in his best friend, John, during lunch at the same coffee shop. They get an eyeful of some of the dysfunctional customers and two stressed-out waitresses, Franny and Mary Ann. John and Mike celebrate his unemployment at a local hot spot with Yvonna and another model in the VIP section. They happen to spot Mary Ann and the klutzy, though John finds her kind of cute, Franny, on the dance floor below. The irrepressible Mike dives into his job search by calling, e-mailing, and sending resumes to everyone he has ever met. After several unsuccessful weeks, Mike watches from his top-floor apartment as they haul away his leased luxury car. A bit later, moving men haul off his leased furniture. Desperate for money, Mike files for unemployment, getting a lesson in bureaucracy in the fruitless bargain. Still not discouraged, Mike responds to a private employment agency only to discover that the job in building management is actually a low-paying night custodial position. Mike tries to get in touch with Yvonna but she won’t return his calls. John accepts a job offered by his company to close plants in other cities. He lets Mike stay in his empty apartment for the remaining days of the lease. When the lease runs out, Mike is forced to move into a mobile home with his estranged and laid-back father, Jerry, and an old dog that farts a lot. Jerry spends a lot of time fishing. Jerry is dating the more ambitious Susan, a single mother, who wants out of the mobile home park for her daughter’s sake. Mike attends a huge job fair, armed with charm and resumes. He leaves more discouraged than before, trashing his lucky yellow tie on the way out. Susan spots Mike at the job fair. She leaves with a second part-time job. Turns out, Mary Ann is only waitressing to learn the donut and bagel business on the ground level. Her Father and Mother own sixteen more stores. Their acquired wealth has allowed them a certain measure of snobbery and faux-fashion. Father likes a pink necktie similar to Mike’s yellow one. Mike and Jerry reconcile their long-standing hostilities. Mike is unnerved to learn that his college education combined with his deceased mother’s medical bills cost Jerry everything. Jerry tells him that in business it’s often the little things you have in common with someone that make the difference in getting ahead. Mike responds to an Internet ad that seems written just for him. Mr. Shine offers to sing Mike’s praises to the company for a small background-check fee. Mike leaves the meeting elated. Franny sprains an ankle riding her bike to work, leaving the store short-handed. Mike and Mary Ann bump into each other while jogging and avoiding an alligator. On a whim, Mary Ann offers Mike a job, which he sneers at. Jerry is pretty sure that the Shine offer is a scam. When the company doesn’t call Mike in the allotted time, he accepts that he has been taken. With his pride gone, he humbly begs Mary Ann for the job. In a bind herself, she hires him. Mike soon learns that there is a lot more to the donut and bagel trade than he ever imagined. He has his trouble with certain regular customers but soon gets the hang of it. Franny returns from medical leave. Mike fears his presence is no longer necessary. But Mary Ann is called to run the corporate offices while her parents vacation. Mike, sporting a new yellow tie, Franny, the Cook, and the Baker brainstorm ideas on how to increase business. In her parent’s absence, Mary Ann hires Yvonna, who has an MBA, but couldn’t find a job other than modeling in corporate America. Mary Ann and Yvonna also enter into a personal relationship. Father and Mother return early from a disappointing vacation. Mother was board. Father caught only one fish. Mary Ann wants to impress Father with ideas she and Yvonna have for expanding business. Father is worried that some of Mary Ann’s ideas will cost too much in a poor economy. Cook has tipped-off Mary Ann about Mike’s ideas. Mary Ann suggests that the family and Yvonna have lunch at the coffee shop. Susan supplements Jerry’s standard diet of fish with take-out, thanks to her extra earnings. Then she delivers an ultimatum to Jerry to clean up his trailer and the dog. He reluctantly complies. John returns to town to close his old plant and to date Franny. He’s found steady work making other people unemployed. Yvonna is shocked when Mary Ann suggests to Father that he listen to Mike’s ideas. Mary Ann confides to her that the way to play Father is to first give him something he can say no to, a trick she learned from Mother. After lunch, Father, wearing his pink necktie, returns alone to the store. He admires Mike’s yellow tie and wants to know if Mike knows someone who could help him catch fish. Mike does. Mother, Mary Ann, Yvonna, and Susan watch in frustration from the dock as Father, Mike, Jerry and the dog set off in Jerry’s boat for fish. Father promises to listen to Mikes’ minimum outlay, maximum return ideas.