A failing stand-up comedian and an alcoholic dermatologist give each other the confidence to face the failures in their lives.

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are on an all-expenses-paid trip for the Observer. Their tough assignment is to drive through beautiful Italian country, eat lavishly, and stay in exquisite small hotels, all so that one or the other can write high-toned culinary drivel for the paper.

Mike, a sensitive narcoleptic who dreams of the mother who abandoned him, and Scott, the rebellious son of a prominent family and the object of Mike's desire, embark on a quest from the grungy streets of Portland to the open highways of the Pacific Northwest, in search of an elusive place called home.