agathe is a successful art dealer who lives with her husband françois and their son adrien in a wealthy quarter of paris. adrien is an underachiever at his school and agathe fights any disadvantages that this can bring for him in parent-teacher conferences. françois is more of a reserved person and procrastinates on a construction project. the situation gets stirred up when adrien's friend patrick, who is tony's father, enters the picture. tony is brilliant in his studies irrespective of his poor access to amenities, so agathe has a soft spot for the child. and, adrien's test results seem to be getting better. but patrick has a rather dubious social background. he lacks both tact in social situations and a proper home or job for supporting a family. agathe is distressed by patrick's unpolished behavior and his intrusion into their life. her husband françois hires him to take care of the overdue construction project and they become friends. then françois cajoles a woman patrick had wanted for himself and leaves agathe. patrick and agathe are left back with the children. agathe develops a sense of attachment for this unruly man who, "au contraire" to her husband, empathizes with her and is dedicated to ensuring his son can attend a respected school. but patrick fails continuously to become responsible and they break up. some time later they reconnect because each seems to complete the other.