Video store owner Neil (Cillian Murphy), an incorrigible prankster and film noir buff, is told by his impatient girlfriend (Heather Burns) to grow up and stop spending so much time living through the movies. Then into his life walks Violet (Lucy Liu), who proves to be a modern-day femme fatale. After finessing hapless Neil out of a video rental, she starts to lead him down a road of petty crime. Soon Neil wonders whether a life with all the excitement of the movies is something he can handle.