Stefano is now forty years old but has not yet found his purpose in life, remaining an eternal dreamer waiting for that decisive enlightenment. With his parents who have great plans for him, Stefano realizes that he lost most of his years without a real goal and thinks back to all those missed opportunities that could have led him to another path, between old loves and unexploited opportunities .
Director Maurizio Nichetti is invited on TV to introduce a screening of his neo-realist classic 'The Icicle Thief'. He is horrified to discover that his black-and-white tale of life in poverty is constantly interrupted by garish color commercials, and even more horrified when a power cut in the studio causes film and commercials to mix up – a glamorous model finds herself in the arms of an unemployed pauper, while his wife finds herself in consumers' heaven. Nichetti has to break into the film to try to sort everything out.
Maurizio works in a dubbing studio and puts sound effects into cartoons. One day his hands turn into cartoon ones, with a life of their own.
Luna is an endearingly prudish teacher in Milan, who lives with her grumpy father. Often teased by students and co-workers alike, her only ally is the janitor, Angelo, who harbors a secret crush on Luna. When a carnival comes to town, Luna meets a man who possesses a magic lamp, which he uses to free her "shadow self." This doppelganger is Luna's polar opposite, whose presence poses both a problem and an opportunity for Luna.
