In 1929, Virginia Woolf is starting to write her novel, 'Mrs. Dalloway, ' under the care of doctors and family. In 1951, Laura Brown is planning for her husband's birthday, but is preoccupied with reading Woolf's novel. In 2001, Clarrisa Vaughn is planning an award party for her friend, an author dying of AIDS. Taking place over one day, all three stories are interconnected with the novel: one is writing it, one is reading it, and one is living it....

Amanda lives in Los Angeles and is a movie trailer editor. Iris lives in Surrey, England and is a journalist. The two live five thousand miles apart and have never met, but are dealing with the same problem: men. Amanda just broke up with her cheating boyfriend. Iris has pined for her ex. They both come upon a website that advocates home exchange and the two swap houses for two weeks at Christmas - both with a goal to forget their troubled love lives....

Once the center of Hollywood, an aging actor finds that his fear of failure has made his career dry up, and he is now forced to consider a role in an independent film. While researching the role, he meets Scarlett, a check-out clerk at a Latino community market. The two begin a trek through Los Angeles finding unexpected situations, chance encounters, and personal revelation that neither could ever have anticipated.