One December night, Buddy Amaral (Ben Affleck), a partner in LA’s hippest advertising agency, is stranded in a major snowstorm at Chicago’s O’Hare airport. There, he meets Greg Janello (Tony Goldwyn), who is trying to make it home in time to celebrate Christmas with his family. When Buddy’s connections get him a seat on the only flight out that night, he generously offers Greg his seat. But the next morning, Buddy learns that the plane he should have been on has crashed. Compelled to make things right, Buddy sets out to find the wife (Gwyneth Paltrow) of the man who took his seat.