Famous crime writer Philip E. Marlow (Michael Gambon) has a terrible case of psoriatic arthroparthy. This causes great pain and he is in the hospital as the doctors work to find the correct types of medications to cure him. However, as these pain medicines begin to work, it causes him to drift in and out of reality. In his dreams, Marlow becomes the hero of his books and solves the crimes. He also drifts into his youth. At several points, he even begins to sing. None of this is true to his real character however. As he begins to recover from his illness, Marlow finally has to face his true inner self and he is not always happy with what he sees.