Jerry Falk, an aspiring writer in New York, falls in love at first sight with a free-spirited young woman named Amanda. He has heard the phrase that life is like "anything else," but soon he finds that life with the unpredictable Amanda isn't like anything else at all.

Unhappy with his unstimulating home life, 9-year-old Daniel yearns to be abducted by aliens. He sneaks out of his house to relive the kind of adventures he once shared with his dad, but encounters a seedy cast of characters on his journey to see the universe.