Throughout his life Edward Bloom has always been a man of big appetites, enormous passions and tall tales. In his later years, he remains a huge mystery to his son, William. Now, to get to know the real man, Will begins piecing together a true picture of his father from flashbacks of his amazing adventures.

A sweet-natured Temp Agency operator and amateur Presidential look-alike is recruited by the Secret Service to become a temporary stand-in for the President of the United States.

In 1969, while studying at the University of Maine, artist Alan Parker becomes obsessed with death. Believing he is losing his girlfriend, he tries to commit suicide on his birthday but his friends manage to stop him. He receives news that his mother has had a stroke and decides to hitchhike to visit her at the hospital.

Jorge is a young man whose plans for the future are put on hold when his father has a stroke. For seven years, he diligently nurses his father and works as a janitor while studying part time to get a business degree.When Natalia, his childhood crush, returns from a stint studying abroad, Jorge begins to yearn for something better. He is desperate to find a new and better job, but finds that no one will hire him because he has experience only as a janitor. Antonio, Jorge’s older brother, soon to be released from jail, is an opportunist who has never gotten along with their father. In prison, at a theater workshop, Antonio meets Paula, a beautiful young woman in jail on drug charges. Paula has a problem because she flirted with another inmate's boyfriend.

At age 50, tax inspector Emerenziano decides to settle down and aims to the three Tettamanzi sisters, who, though not young or pretty by any means, have recently inherited a large amount of money.

Disappointed with humanity, God wants to revoke his contract with humanity and wants to take back the stone tablets containing the ten commandments. To this end an angel is sent out to affect the personal lives of three humans so an appropriate child may be conceived.

At fifty, René Maugras has lost everything. This wealthy press boss fell into a coma and was rushed to hospital. He has since emerged from his worrying state of health but remains unable to move and communicate. He must also begin rehabilitation, which turns out to be particularly humiliating. Fortunately for him there is Blanche, his nurse, who surrounds him with affection. Blanche takes her case to heart.