Christmas Eve. Commercial artist Molly Gilmore (Streep) and architectural engineer Frank Raftis (De Niro) are last-minute Christmas shopping in Manhattan. Frank meets his colleague Ed (Keitel) for drinks; Ed tells Frank he is getting divorced. Molly sees her friend Isabelle, who is married but plans to spend Christmas with another man; Molly also visits her sick father. Later that day, at the counter in a hectic Rizzoli Bookstore, Frank and Molly get their packages mixed up, and on Christmas Day Molly’s husband, Brian (Clennon), and Frank’s wife, Ann (Kaczmarek), each open the books that were meant for the other.