Adapted from the memoirs of literary critic John Bayley, the film recounts his courtship of and long marriage to British novelist Iris Murdoch. The scenario tacks back and forth from the young Iris--ready to seduce one and all with her coy command of words and sex appeal--to the elder Iris--slowly giving way to the cruel erasure of Alzheimer's.

Barbara is a cynical schoolteacher who is close to retirement. Her only means of taking the edge off her desperate loneliness is writing in her journal. Sheba is a younger, attractive woman, who joins the faculty as an art teacher. Barbara watches her from afar and has nothing but caustic things to say in her diary. Barbara finds herself reaching out to Sheba. Sheba responds by inviting her to dinner at her house to meet Sheba's lecturer husband and...

Tom and Kate Baker have made many sacrifices in their professional lives in order to raise their 12 children. When Tom is offered a job as a Division I college football coach, he moves the entire pack to a suburb in Chicago. This move shakes up the entire family, but when Kate's memoirs get published, she takes off on a book tour. The lack of parental guidance creates problems for all the Baker kids and chaos ensues.

Tom and his wife Kate bring their clan together for a memorable summer getaway. Their dream vacation turns into an outrageous competition with the overachieving, overzealous family of Tom's longtime rival.