Travel agent Paul Barnell (Robin Williams) finds a body in a dumpster that, unbeknownst to him, was left there by Mafia hitmen. Heavily in debt and attempting to find a cure for his wife Margaret's (Holly Hunter) apparent Tourette Syndrome, he stages a disfiguring animal attack with the body in order to cash in his missing brother's life-insurance policy, for which a corpse is required.
Local police are convinced, but promotion-hungry insurance agent Ted Waters (Giovanni Ribisi) is not. The hitmen who dumped the body are also in search of the corpse for proof to collect their payment. They take Margaret hostage to ensure that they will get the body. Meanwhile, Ted is having problems with his girlfriend, Tiffany (Alison Lohman), who he neglects as he works his way up in his firm.