 The patriarch (Jeff Daniels) of an eccentric Brooklyn family claims to once have been a great novelist, but he has settled into a teaching job. When his wife (Laura Linney) discovers a writing talent of her own, jealousy divides the family, leaving two teenage sons to forge new relationships with their parents. Linney s character begins dating her younger son s tennis coach. Meanwhile, Daniels  character has an affair with the student his older son is pursuing.