At his high school reunion, the mild-mannered Dalibor Vrána learns, to his chagrin, that some of his former classmates own villas and take international vacations.
He feels dejected because he merely manages a bookstore, drives a dilapidated three-wheeled Velorex, and is chronically short on cash, in part because he owes alimony to two ex-wives, and a third wife is worried they can't pay their bills.
When a drunk stranger in a restaurant mistakes Vrána for a waiter, he sees a silver lining.
He starts slipping into restaurants, wearing the old tuxedo he wore to his high school reunion, and settling up the bills of diners whose real waiters have left them hanging.
Svěrák first offered the script to Jiří Menzel, who passed because he thought the material was too thin for a feature-length film.