An out-of-work Irish immigrant in Montreal remains hopeful that his luck is about to change but his disillusioned family grow tired of his pigheadedness and instability.

James Francis "Ginger" Coffey has no luck finding a job in his native Ireland and him being a dreamer, he decides the place to find a job is Canada. He moves his wife, Vera, and 14-year old daughter, Paulie, to Montreal in hopes of a better life. After six months nothing has changed and his family despise their new surroundings. The Coffey's do have one thing in their favor: a rich friend named Tom who lands Ginger a job at a Newspaper. It's a dream come true for Ginger who always fancied himself a journalist and he waltzes in expecting a reporting gig and a by-line on his first day. The blow to his pride is almost too much for him when he discovers the job is as a proofreader but he accepts it begrudgingly. The job does not pay enough and Ginger is forced to take a second job as a delivery man for a diaper-laundering service. Just when things are going well, Ginger's pigheadedness and unfounded self-importance cause him to make poor choices and his life begins to spiral downward again.—pr1mal_1

Approaching middle age, married couple Ginger and Vera Coffey moved with their fourteen year old daughter Paulie from their native Dublin to Montréal in the quest for a better life. Their dreams for this life are all Ginger's dreams of what he considers a prestigious job that pays well, or at least the possibility of quick advancement to such, with Vera to be a stay-at-home wife and mother. The problem is that Ginger's dreams don't match his experience or qualifications, he never sticking with a job that he feels is beneath him. It's not like he doesn't have the opportunity for work, either via recommendations from the employment office or friends such as Montréal Tribune sports reporter Joe McGlade. While Vera loves Ginger, the Coffeys' marriage may be threatened when Vera catches Ginger in a lie about his work and thus their financial situation. What follows is a push and pull between Ginger and Vera about their relationship and life as a whole, with Paulie, caught in the middle, used as a pawn.—Huggo