Frank O'Malley hasn't had a successful film in five years and Hollywood often buries directors who haven't made a successful movie in five months: the film industry's version of a mercy killing. But now O'Malley has a major studio thinking he might get lucky again. Trouble is, he doesn't believe it himself. The past few years have shorn him of a self-confidence which once bordered on sheer brassiness. Yet he plays out his luck down to the last card. The Irish in O'Malley has made him a connoisseur of lost causes. Sure enough, the cause does get lost, and then so does he in the jungle around Puerto Vallarta. He has deluded himself into believing that by teaming up with his estranged brother (Danny), he can succeed in smuggling precious artifacts out of Mexico. Complications arise when both brothers become intrigued with the young woman who has been assigned to what is nothing more than a scam involving their phantom film production. Finally, after developing a deep affection for the people, as well as a great respect for the cultural heritage of the country that they have come to pillage, the brothers make the costliest sacrifice of their entire lives, a decision which in a whimsical twist of fate, leads to the realization of their fondest dreams.