Bloomington, Minnesota, 1967: Jewish physics lecturer Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) is a serious and a very put-upon man. His daughter is stealing from him to save up for a nose job; his pot-head son, who gets stoned at his own bar-mitzvah, only wants him round to fix the TV aerial and his useless brother Arthur is an unwelcome house-guest. But both Arthur and Larry get turfed out to a motel when Larry's wife Judy, who wants a divorce, moves her lover Sy into the house and even after Sy's death in a car crash they are still there. With lawyers' bills mounting for his divorce, Arthur's criminal court appearances, and a land feud with a neighbor, Larry is tempted to take the bribe offered by a student to give him an illegal exam pass mark. And the rabbis he visits for advice only dole out platitudes. Still God moves in mysterious---and not always pleasant---ways, as Larry and his family will find out.