Rachel Samstat (Meryl Streep), a New York food critic, beds Mark Forman (Jack Nicholson), a Washington, D.C., newspaper columnist. The two fall in love, and Rachel relinquishes her job and relocates to be with a man who views himself as unfit for marriage. They try to build a life together -- literally -- as they struggle with the construction crews renovating their home. When Rachel gets pregnant, Mark is enthusiastic, but then soon begins doubting whether he could be a family man.

Based loosely on writer Nora Ephron's marriage to and divorce from Carl Bernstein, her second husband.