When lounge singer Dean Martin (Northam) and burlesque comic Jerry Lewis (Hayes) clicked during an impromptu pairing in 1946, neither anticipated their unparalleled success as a team.

Handsome and effortlessly charming, Martin successfully launches a solo acting career, in part to escape Lewis’s directorial aspirations and oppressive neediness.

When Martin is called on the carpet by his wife, Betty (Cale), he walks out on his family; his frustration and resentment at being part of a two-headed showbiz monster only increases.

Engineered by managers and agents, the last lap of the Martin-Lewis partnership is a cheerless financial arrangement, and though each triumphs after the official split in 1956, neither ever recaptures the elation of their early chemistry.

Also featured in supporting roles are Steve Brinder as Danny Lewis, Conrad Dunn as Lou Perry, Bill Lake as Hal Wallis, David Eisner as Lew Wasserman, Robert Morelli as Skinny D'Amato and Markus Parilo as Irwin Woolfe.