‘SPOILER ALERT’

The film opens with Dell driving Philip Lacasse through the city of Chicago

They are followed by police after Dell starts to speed up

He bets Philip that he can lose the cops and he does for a moment

until they corner him in the streets

They force Dell out of the car until he tells them that he was rushing to the hospital because Philip is having a seizure

They see him foaming at the mouth and then escort the two to the hospital

but they are just faking it and laugh over the cops believing them

We jump back to six months earlier

Dell is recently released convict who is meeting with his parole officer to try and turn his life around

He must obtain a number of signatures and hand them in by the next day

He goes around to different workplaces with little to no interest in what they offer other than the signatures

Dell’s last stop is Philip’s home

As he is a quadriplegic Philip interviews several candidates alongside his assistant Yvonne for the position of Philip’s caregiver

Dell waits for over an hour to be called in

and he barges in during an interview demanding to be met because he has to go meet his son

Philip decides to listen to Dell’s story

and when he mentions doing time Philip asks what he was in for

so Dell tries to turn it on him and say that he must be offered the job after being asked that question

Philip does so but Dell declines as he is not interested in being hired and only wants the signature

Dell goes to a school to pick up his son Anthony but he is told by someone that his mother picked him up

he visits Anthony and his ex Latrice

Neither of them has much interest in Dell

trying to be there now what with him being absent for most of Anthony’s life

It doesn’t help that he and Latrice live in a crummy apartment that is falling apart

Dell gives Anthony a storybook for his birthday except it’s a book he swiped from Philip before leaving

he is contacted by Yvonne to come back as Philip wants to hire Dell for the job

simply because he was the worst and least qualified candidate

She doesn’t trust Dell due to his criminal history and is concerned for how Dell will handle Philip

but he assures her he can do a good job

Yvonne establishes a three strikes rule on Dell to make sure he doesn’t screw up

and she lets him know that the job is a live-in position and it pays very well since Philip is so wealthy

Dell starts off rocky as he isn’t quick to respond to Philip’s calls via opera music

or he just makes things like feeding Philip his breakfast a daunting task

Dell meets Philip’s nurse Maggie who shows Dell how to take care of Philip physically

This involves demonstrating the use of a catheter and how it is applied to Dell’s discomfort

Slowly Dell starts to adjust to Philip’s needs and acts better

However Philip insists to Dell that he follow a strict “do not resuscitate” rule if Philip stops breathing

This is put to the test one night as Philip appears to be suffocating

but Dell insisting he needs the job gives Philip oxygen and forces him to breathe

After getting his first paycheck Dell goes to find Latrice and gives the whole thing to her and Anthony

She is somewhat pleased until Dell asks her to get the book back from Anthony since it wasn’t his to give

Latrice gets upset once again and tells Dell to do his own dirty work

He then goes to find Anthony but finds him talking to a suspicious older man

Dell misses Anthony before he enters his building and has to leave

when he sees some kids messing around with Philip’s car that Dell was allowed to drive

He is then contacted by Yvonne and when he returns to Philip’s home she calls his absence his third strike

and tries to fire him until Philip clarifies that he allowed Dell to take the car to see his son

Dell takes Philip around the city after smoking a joint to ease the pain that Philip feels in his legs

During their walk Philip tells Dell how he became a quadriplegic

His late wife Jenny was suffering from cancer at the time

and so Philip proposed that they go paragliding to take her mind off of things

It was this accident that rendered Philip immobile and He cries as he thinks about Jenny

So Dell tries to cheer him up by taking him to get food

During their talk Dell also discusses potential business ideas and he would like to get into with Philip’s help

Dell finds out that Philip is in an epistolary relationship with a woman named Lily

They maintain a correspondence without having seen pictures of each other or hearing each other’s voices

Dell goes through Lily’s letters and finds a phone number

Against Philip and Yvonne’s words Dell calls Lily but they only get her voicemail

Dell encourages Philip to say something and so he asks her to call him back whenever she can

Philip joins Dell as he takes Anthony out for the day

Everything goes well and they have fun until Dell asks Anthony for the book back

and Anthony realizes it belongs to Philip He gives it back to Philip but walks away from Dell

Dell and Philip go home to find that Yvonne has organized a surprise party for Philip’s birthday

He is displeased as he doesn’t want anything like that

He orders Yvonne to get rid of the guests while he and Dell have an argument

which leads to Dell smashing things for Philip’s catharsis

They decide to let the party continue and mingle and Dell even gets Yvonne to dance

Meanwhile a neighbor named Carter that Philip can’t stand approaches him about Dell’s criminal record

and to reconsider keeping Dell around for the sake of the other residents in the building

but Philip ignores Carter

Yvonne then goes to Philip to tell him that Lily has called back and would like to set up a dinner date

Dell sits with Philip in a restaurant a few days later as they wait for Lily to show up

Philip gives Dell a check for $50000 for a silly painting Dell did

but Philip wants Dell to put it to good use and invest it in a potential business

Lily then arrives and she insists that Dell doesn’t need to be there to help Philip

However during the meal Lily admits that while she knew about Philip’s condition

the whole thing wasn’t what she was expecting

Philip becomes quietly offended and tries to leave

but he accidentally bumps into another patron and then a waiter who spills hot coffee on his lap

The staff clamor around Philip to help him as he insists that he can’t feel anything

Dell goes to pick Philip up and return him home

but Philip chews Dell out for arranging the whole thing with Lily since he now feels like a fool

Philip then fires Dell

Time passes by and Dell decides to spend Philip’s check toward buying a better apartment for Latrice and Anthony

He gets a new job working with auto parts but he is approached by Maggie

who says that Philip has gone through several other caregivers and hasn’t communicated with any of them

and he just won’t talk to anybody else which has led Yvonne to leave

Maggie tells Dell that she thinks Philip will listen to him

Dell goes to find Philip who hasn’t had a shave in a while

He takes him out for a drive which leads to the encounter with the police and faking a seizure

They flee before the nurses arrive with a gurney

Dell continues to drive out of town until they reach a spot where Philip can relax

Dell arranges for Philip to go paragliding again to get over his fear

but Dell unwittingly has to join him

After the event Dell brings Philip to a house where he surprises him by having Yvonne show up

Dell leaves the two of them to catch up while he goes to spend the day with Anthony