Shane Butler is a handsome but geeky 20-year-old who feels that life is passing him by. A talented artist who longs to go to art school, he spends his days stuck in a horrible job behind a desk in the civil service. When he moves into an apartment in Limerick City with Vincent Cusack, a gay fashion student, things begin to look up. Despite being polar opposites on almost every level, Shane and Vincent soon become close friends. Vincent's artistry--evident in everything he puts his hand to--inspires Shane to greatness. When he meets and falls in love with Gemma, an ex-art student and best friend of Vincent's who now works in a fast food joint, he feels compelled to make some radical changes to his life. Fate steps in to lend a hand in the form of Keith, a drug dealer who lives downstairs. Keith offers Shane the opportunity to make a lot of money by going on a drugs run to Dublin. At first Shane refuses, but he desperately needs the cash. He goes on the drug run and lives to regret it. With the money he makes from the run, Vincent transforms him--"Pretty Woman" style--into one of the hippest cats in town. Unknown to Shane though, some shady figures have tailed him back from Dublin and are now watching the apartment.