Jefferson Steel (Burt Reynolds) is an ageing Hollywood action hero. Hes out of work, vain, insecure and is desperate to revive his flagging career. Under pressure from his client, Jeffersons incompetent LA agent Charlie is forced to go through his trash in a final attempt to find Jefferson work and stumbles upon the perfect role: a prestige run in the British theatre playing King Lear at Stratford. Jefferson believes he has landed the role of a lifetime and arrives in the U.K. only to discover the reality. Instead of a leading role in a Royal Shakespeare Company Production at Stratford upon Avon, Jefferson has committed to star as King Lear for an amateur dramatic society in the sleepy English village Stratford St John in Suffolk. A comic clash of cultures ensues in this hilarious and ultimately moving British comedy.