弗兰克（瑞安·雷诺兹 Ryan Reynolds 饰）是一位小有名气的作家，他所撰写的《五分钟效率训练》在年轻人之间引起了很大的反响。在生活中，弗兰克同样是一个注重效率和计划的人，在他的世界里，每一分钟每一秒每一件事的发生都经过了他精心的策划和安排，绝无意外的发生。 　　作为弗兰克的妻子和女儿，苏珊（艾米莉·莫迪默 Emily Mortimer 饰）和杰西（伊莉莎白·哈诺伊斯 Elisabeth Harnois 饰）也被迫过着和弗兰克一样的“计划人生”，这种失去了刺激和新意的生活让两个女人简直是要发疯。无奈之下，苏珊决定帮弗兰克做一点改变，可是，令苏珊没有想到的是，自己小小的举动，却让弗兰克陷入了万劫不复的境地。At his daughter's wedding, time-management specialist Frank Allen corners the reluctant groom and tells him a long story: about the night his wife chose him, and then, about eight years later, when a missed ferry, a corporate groupie, a panicked expectant mother, and a medical test brought Frank's marriage to a crisis. In the midst of the crisis were Frank, his wife Susan, their daughter Jesse, and Frank's best friend, the feckless Buddy. Things come to a head at a lake when Frank, armed with a shotgun, decides to cross something permanently from one of his time-management lists. Is there ever room for whim and chaos?