 The Irish former professional player Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) from the lower class gets a job as tennis instructor in an upper class club in London. Chris becomes close to his student Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode), who introduces him to his British upper class family, and Tom s sister Chloe immediately falls in love with him. The ambitious Chris keeps the relationship with Chloe, feeling lust for Tom s fiancée, the American aspirant actress Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson), and they have a brief affair. Chris gets married to Chloe and climbs to a high position in a company of the Hewett s family, while Tom breaks his engagement with Nola. When Chris meets Nola by chance, he becomes obsessed for her and she becomes his mistress. When Nola gets pregnant and presses him, he balances the financial advantages of his marriage but he has to take a decision in his life and choose the woman he wants for his companion.