A group of American boys discovers a Russian sailor washed up on the coast of Florida and decide to befriend him, assuming that he is friendly and will bring them no danger and thus go against the ideas of their parents, as well as the government.

During the last years of World War II, Hermie, Oscy, and Benjie are coming of age. They went their separate ways when they graduated from high school in 1944. Benjie joins the Marines as Hermie and Oscy enter college. There, Hermie falls head over heels for another freshman named Julie, and the two old friends deal with a troublesome fraternity president who is in charge of hazings.

One of Bob Hunt's neighbours' electricity is cut off because she cannot pay the bill. She is assisted by contributions, and the bill is paid entirely in pennies, though the clerk is belatedly told that payment is not accepted in such a large quantity of coins. Unfortunately, the electric company fails to reconnect the power due to a communications snafu, and the elderly woman is taken to hospital suffering hypothermia. Hunt sets off on a vendetta of revenge, sabotaging assorted support systems.

A string of tough homicide cases confronts veteran Det. Eddie Van Owen and youthful partner Johnny Marks, but the murder of a music video dancer takes their investigation in an unexpected direction. When the duo looks into the killing, a shady producer turns up the prime suspect, and the ensuing scandal spills out of the music world and into gangland.