Harry Stone (Danny Aiello) is in quite a pickle. After a succession of box-office bombs, the film director has produced a glossy Hollywood flick about a group of plucky young teenagers and their space-traveling gherkin that is being deemed a huge hit. Ironically, the film stinks, and Harry is terrified of being considered a sellout and an artistic failure.
On the eve of the movie's premiere, he returns to New York after a long sojourn in Paris to find many faces from his past waiting to descend on him - his girlfriend, agent, mother, children, grandchildren, ex-wives, and fans. As Harry lies in his Plaza Hotel suite, he indulges in cigarettes, alcohol, food, and sex, desperately trying to forget the grisly details of his past and the many personal and professional mistakes he has made along the way. While reminiscing about his Brooklyn childhood and his early creative vision, Harry is filled with mounting anxiety over his artistic dilemma. The terror of the pickle film looms on the horizon, revealed in hilarious flashbacks of the making of the movie.
Segments of the film-within-the-film feature an all-star cast, including Isabella Rossellini, Ally Sheedy, Griffin Dunne, and even Little Richard as the alien president. Director Paul Mazursky satirically exposes the fickle world of filmmaking -and one man's creative vision - as Harry emotionally prepares for his premiere. The supporting cast includes Dyan Cannon as Harry's sultry ex-wife, Shelley Winters as his eccentric mother, and Chris Penn as his drug-addicted son.
