Bernardo Puccini Ezio Greggio is sent to the family-owned Italian natural food company to work as a food examiner and flavor developer, stepping into a world where his wealthy but hot-tempered father, Guido Puccini, runs the business with an iron will. Bernardo is genuinely excited by a new cream cheese formula that contains no sugar, fat, or preservatives, and he savors its clean taste, thinking it could be a game changer. Yet Guido reads the absence of sweetness as a flaw, insisting on chemical additives instead of natural substitutes. A heated confrontation bursts forth, and the tension between father and son reaches a breaking point when Guido collapses from a heart attack, needing immediate hospital care, along with his aging doctor, Dr. Caputo.
In the hospital room, Guido, somehow still oriented toward his own desires and ambitions, recounts a wartime memory that feels almost mythic: a statue of the Virgin Mary once pinned him down, and a fallen mercy came in the form of an American soldier named Jake Gordon [Mel Brooks]. The dying wish is blunt and practical—Bernardo must fly to America and bring Jake back to Italy so that Guido can secure his share of the business through this long-ago connection. Bernardo agrees, though the plan unsettles his girlfriend, Sofia [Randi Ingerman], who is about to undergo plastic surgery and questions the wisdom of chasing a debt from the past. Nevertheless, he resolves to fulfill his father’s wish, setting the stage for a cross-continental farce that blends memory, ego, and a dash of chaos.
Arriving in Los Angeles, Bernardo tracks Jake down at a mental hospital where his delusions and volatile behavior have earned him a wary restraint. Dr. Barbara Collier [Julie Condra] and her father, Dr. Hugo, refuse to release Jake, fearing what he might do if freed. Bernardo, convinced that Jake is the key to his father’s last request, sneaks into the facility and reminds Jake of the debt he owes Guido. The appeal works, and the two hatch a plan to escape—pulled off with a chaotic distraction using wheelchairs and a scramble through the facility. But the escape triggers a fresh pursuit by the doctors, who insist on reclaiming Jake and returning him to the hospital.
The duo’s flight carries them to the European coast, where Jake offers Bernardo a drink laced with five sedative pills. Bernardo unknowingly swallows the medication and finds himself disoriented as Jake leads him toward a new horizon. The chase continues, and soon Jake seizes Bernardo’s wallet before vanishing to Monte Carlo, leaving the Italian executive to struggle with the effects of the drug as he tries to stay one step ahead of the pursuing doctors. Dr. Collier catches up, and the pursuit spills into a tense confrontation: Bernardo insists that Jake must be brought to Guido, while Collier worries about the consequences of Jake’s escape for her professional liabilities.
In Monte Carlo, the plot thickens. Bernardo announces his own name at the hotel lobby, only to learn that Jake checked in under his identity. The investigation leads to a beachside scene where Jake is spotted shielding topless sunbathers with towels, which becomes an awkward misunderstanding and earns Bernardo a sudden arrest for impropriety before the authorities. Collier lends a hand, but Bernardo’s symptoms—his twitching and mounting unease—suggest that the arrangement with Jake is tearing at the edges of his sanity. Over drinks and negotiations, Collier counsels patience, but the chase resumes, and the pair bond in the crucible of shared danger.
A near-miss with a Virgin Mary statue revives the old memory, and while Jake and Bernardo slip away from the authorities, Jake is nevertheless handcuffed by Collier who wants to take him back to the hospital. Bernardo refuses to capitulate and engineers a clever ruse, crafting a fake corridor at the airport in hopes of a clean exit. Jake escapes again, this time in a truck, and Bernardo finds himself back in custody. In the police station, he vents about Jake’s practical jokes and explains how they ignite his own compulsions, while Collier feels a twinge of remorse for the hold Jake has over his life. Eventually, a new possibility emerges: Collier agrees to let Jake depart with Bernardo and return to Italy, a choice that hints at a fragile reconciliation rather than punishment.
Back in Italy, the situation shifts as Guido’s health fluctuates, and old resentments flare. A heated clash reveals Jake’s version of revenge, rooted in a rumored marriage to “Giovanna” that Guido believed to be his wife—only to discover that the bride was a man in disguise. Sofia reappears with a dramatic makeover and uses her position to push for Jake’s arrest, but Collier intervenes once more, declaring Jake a “free man.” Bernardo, disillusioned with Sofia’s vanity and the plastic-surgery culture surrounding him, redefines his loyalties and begins to envision steering the company toward a calmer, more ethical course under Collier’s influence.
A growing bond forms between Bernardo and Dr. Barbara Collier, and a romance blooms as Bernardo marries the doctor and steps into a new role as Jake’s assistant. Yet the story keeps its comic edge: Bernardo pretends to share his father’s aversion to the cream cheese, only to be pulled back into Jake’s orbit and the unpredictable dynamics of their partnership. The endgame swerves between business, health, and humor, culminating in a final, chaotic moment as Jake’s “treatment”—a misapplied surgical metaphor—collides with Bernardo’s stubborn resolve to keep his life and his legacy intact. As the credits approach, the characters drift toward a fragile balance: Jake enjoys a marching dance with other patients, while Bernardo, newly entwined with Collier, stands ready to navigate a future that is as much about healing as it is about a brand new kind of family business.
