Socially inept Barry Egan (Adam Sandler) is the only son among seven sisters who torment his insular daily life by calling him "gay boy" and making harassing telephone calls to him at work at the toilet-plunger warehouse he runs in the San Fernando Valley. Barry takes out his frustration by breaking and smashing things or randomly bursting into tears. One day he discovers a potential means of escape in an offer (and this part's based on a true story) for frequent-flyer miles through the purchase of $3,000 of Healthy Choice Pudding, which Barry buys by the case, eventually racking up over 1.25 million miles worth of air travel. But loneliness is the guest who doesn't leave, and Barry bides his time by engaging in a phone-sex service, wherein he gives away his credit card number and other information. He ends up being harassed by the woman he calls, who turns out to be part of an extortion scheme organized by a dirtbag mattress salesman (Philip Seymour Hoffman). This leads to unforeseen consequences that push Barry deeper into the hair-pulling abyss--until his sister introduces him to Lena Leonard (Emily Watson), who, with deceptively simple tenderness in this otherwise deceptively simple love story, awakens Barry to his inner strength.