Roberto, a shy law student in Rome, meets Bruno, a forty-year-old exuberant, capricious man, who takes him for a drive through the Roman and Tuscany countries in the summer of 1962. They will spend two days together, meet both Roberto's and Bruno's family. The time Roberto spends with Bruno is a hilarious, but sometimes emotionally merciless accelerated maturization process. While Bruno's easy going "l'usage du monde" and societal success attract Roberto's great admiration, he also slowly realizes Bruno's hollowness, superficiality and unhappiness.