Where’s Poppa?

Gordon Hocheiser is a successful criminal defense attorney in New York City who still lives with his 87-year-old mother. Their relationship is strained by his resentment and her rude, demanding behavior, which intrudes on his personal life. Despite his professional success, he bears the burden of caring for an elderly parent.

In a misguided attempt at independence, Gordon dons a gorilla suit and tries to attack his mother in bed to scare her to death. The plan backfires when she fights back and he is left humiliated and in pain. The moment reveals his desperation to end the caregiver burden by any means.

Gordon recalls a deathbed promise to his father not to place his mother in a rest home, a pledge that torments him as her needs grow. He feels trapped between filial duty and his own desire for freedom. The promise colors every future decision about her care.

Gordon desperately searches for a nurse to care for his mother, but her history with difficult patients makes many caregivers refuse the job. The lack of reliable help heightens the stress and threatens to overwhelm him. His options shrink as the situation worsens.

Gordon finally meets Louise, a young nurse whose patients have a troubling habit of dying under her watch, and he hires her as his mother's companion. He is instantly smitten with her, imagining a chance for romance to bloom. Despite the red flags, he overlooks caution in favor of relief.

Excited about Louise's arrival, Gordon becomes paranoid that his mother will sabotage the relationship. In a frantic moment, he tries to lock her away in her room to keep them apart. The scene foreshadows the ethical boundaries he will later cross.

Louise meets Gordon's mother for the first time, and the encounter goes badly. The old woman acts hostile and undermines the romance, while Gordon watches in growing embarrassment. The failure compounds the tension surrounding his caregiving arrangement.

Terrified that Gordon will carry through with his threats, Sidney crosses Central Park to reach his brother. He is mugged in the night, losing his clothes, which prompts his naked arrival at Gordon's apartment. The city’s chaos mirrors the family’s upheaval.

After arriving naked, Sidney borrows the gorilla costume and wears it home to fulfill Gordon's request for help. The disguise adds another layer of farce to an already chaotic situation. The plan relies on a ridiculous ruse to salvage the arrangement.

Louise returns to Gordon's apartment, and Gordon realizes this may be his last chance with her. He urges Sidney to come back and assist, hoping the gorilla disguise will save the day. The tension between romance, duty, and deception reaches a new peak.

While wearing the gorilla suit, Sidney is confronted by his muggers again and is forced to assault a woman in the park. The woman turns out to be an undercover male police officer, and Sidney ends up in jail. The incident deepens the brothers' legal and personal troubles.

Back at work, Gordon represents a client in court with utter incompetence. During the trial, Louise appears at the back of the courtroom, prompting Gordon to abandon the proceedings to pursue her. The case highlights his deterioration and obsession with his relationship.

Despondent, Gordon visits Sidney in jail, and, to their surprise, Sidney is released. The small mercy offers a hint of relief amid the chaos. The brothers brace themselves for the next upheaval.

Gordon drives with his mother and Louise from rest home to rest home, searching for an available bed. When no room can be found, he drops his mother off at an entrance and presents a random elderly stranger as Poppa. He and Louise drive away, finally free of the burden he carried for so long.