Tom is 28 and destined to follow in his father's footsteps in the sleazy and sometimes brutal world of real estate. But a chance encounter leads him to believe that he can become, like his mother, a concert pianist. In earnest, he starts preparing for the audition with a virtuoso Chinese pianist. She doesn't speak a word of French; music is their only exchange. But pressures from the ugly world of his day job soon become more than he can handle.