Infamous Mafioso Paul Vitti (De Niro) is suffering a nervous breakdown while serving time in prison. As a result, he is granted a conditional release into the custody and care of his psychotherapist, Ben Sobel (Crystal).
As therapy continues and Sobel tries to get to the bottom of Vitti?s psychosis, Sobel realizes his patient might not be as crazy as he claims to be.
Vitti?s apparent "breakdown" may merely be a carefully orchestrated act to get out of prison so he can resume his duties as a mob boss.