A down-and-out screenwriter (Hugh Grant) reluctantly takes a teaching job at an upstate New York university, but his initial plans to focus on his next script are foiled as he becomes emotionally invested in the lives of his students -- in particular an optimistic single mother (Marisa Tomei) who's recently caught the writing bug. Chris Elliott, J.K. Simmons, Allison Janney, and Bella Heathcote co-star.