This legal thriller exposes the seedy underside of the music business through the tale of Oliver Gulliver, a small-town lawyer in northern California who never tested his legal prowess in a major trial. His daughter returns home from San Francisco with her new addict rock star boyfriend, C. C. Gilley, who Oliver finds repulsive. But a quirky friendship develops between the men when Gilley accepts Oliver's dare to go cold turkey and begins writing songs for his comeback album. After the tune of one of Gilley's love songs airs on the radio, performed by a new band, Oliver sues a billion-dollar record company in Los Angeles for plagiarism. His success in capturing the admiration of the court wins him a restraining order against the band and confidence in his abilities as a lawyer.