Howard (Kevin Klein Kevin Kline) is a teacher who teaches in high school. He teaches diligently all his life and wins the respect of his friends and students. The long-distance love run between Howard and his girlfriend Emily (Joan Cusack Joan Cusack) is finally coming to fruition, and soon they will join hands in marriage and make a promise to keep each other for life. One day, Howard was at Emily's house, watching the Oscars with his fiancee. He was surprised that the honor of the actor was awarded to his former student. While feeling proud, the new actor's acceptance speech knocked Howard to rock bottom. Howard was "out" in front of thousands of audiences. Sure enough, Emily was furious, and Howard couldn't clear up his grievances when he jumped into the Yellow River.