Charlotte "Charlie" Brooks (Britt Robertson) lives with her single mother Marie Brooks (Natascha McElhone) in a small apartment in California. She is awakened to the sounds and smells of cooking in the kitchen, to find an African-American stranger preparing breakfast. When she tells her mother about this, she informs Charlotte that the man is Mr. Church (Eddie Murphy) and he will be their new cook. Charlie is initially distrustful of Mr. Church and urges her mother Marie to fire him. It is revealed that Mr. Church was hired by Richard Cannon, a wealthy entrepreneur who had an adulterous affair with Marie. When he died, he left provisions in his will that provided financial support for Marie while she suffered from terminal breast cancer. The provisions were slated to last for six months to match her diagnosed life expectancy. When Mr. Church informs her that he was guaranteed a lifetime salary to care for the family, Marie reneges and decides to keep Mr. Church as their cook. Charlie spends time with her best friend Poppy (Madison Wolfe) and her school boy crush Owen Baxter. She rides the bus to school with Eddie Larson (Christian Madsen), a man whose driver's license has been permanently revoked due to serving four years in prison for vehicular manslaughter.