When the criminal Milan rolls into a sleepy French backwater town planning to knock off the local bank on Saturday, he assumes it will go off without a hitch. Then he encounters Manesquier. A retired poetry teacher whose sedentary lifestyle bores even himself, Manesquier offers Milan a much-needed drink of water in his musty old chateau. The only thing they seem to share is that Manesquier, too, has an important date on Saturday; but his is for open-heart surgery. From the start, the two men are equally wary of the other. Manesquier senses that Milan is up to no good, while Milan is driven crazy by Manesquier’s incessant talking. But, when Milan is forced to hole up in Manesquier’s mansion until the robbery, the distance between them begins to disappear. Suddenly, Manesquier wonders what it would be like to trade his books and art for Milan’s gun and life of adventure. Meanwhile, Milan covets Manesquier’s bedroom slippers and cozy life of stability. As their friendship develops, surprising moments of humor and tenderness emerge, as each seemingly defies his personality to explore his yearning for the life of the other.