Danny Kowalski (Jude Law) had helped a baby to be born when he was a little kid. Young Danny (Cory Buck) declares that he will marry the girl, Anna, after she grows up. More than two decades later, Danny goes back to California from England, where he went to school. He loses his lover and has trouble finding work. He goes back to where he helped with the delivery and finds Anna Swan (Gretchen Mol), a lovely woman, but she’s engaged to marry someone else. Grace Swan (Brenda Blethyn) helps Danny get employed by the family, but he has a struggle ahead as he tries to get Anna to like him enough to marry him.