Brooks is an eccentric rich kid, with a fondness for big band music, bow ties taking strange photographs who one day whilst stealing a mannequin from a clothes store, meets Anne, a free-spirited, young deaf girl who works in the shop. It's a meeting that will transform his life. As their friendship blossoms he starts to learn sign-language and she helps him to conquer his fear of water but with a bullying brother, insensitive overbearing father and his father's peculiar new girlfriend all pressurising him to be 'normal' will Brooks be able to break free from their boundaries and his own fears and limitations to find the meaning of true and selfless love.

出身富有家庭的布鲁克斯喜欢干些同别人不一样的事：喜欢打领结，喜欢拍摄奇怪的照片，喜欢古老的音乐，因此被人认为性格古怪。在同异性交往时，布鲁克斯的举止行为显得非常拘谨，但在结识了安娜后——她是个聋子，却独立而果断，布鲁克斯则逐渐克服了自己的胆怯，理解了生活的意义和爱的真正含义。布鲁克斯的哥哥是个嬉皮士，为捉弄布鲁克斯，他将自己的麻醉剂放到了弟弟的房中。父亲发现麻醉剂后，认为布鲁克斯精神异常，但布鲁克斯需要的不是精神病医生，而是同他深爱的安娜在一起，一起去克服自身的局限，发现自我。