When the mild-mannered Arkadiy immigrates to the US, he is faced with the typical challenges: speaking the language, adapting to the environment. After several unsuccessful attempts to find work, he is forced to seek help from his uncle, a successful US businessman with ties to the mob. But Arkadiy's family has been out of contact with the uncle for over 20 years because during the days of the USSR, he was a prominent political party official who persecuted Arkadiy's dissident father.