Mr. Jones (Richard Gere) is a man suffering from bipolar disorder, a disease that affords him periods of intense emotional pleasure and expansiveness but which also results in periods of suicide clinical depression. In one of his manic periods he jumps up onto the stage during a concert performance of Beethoven's ninth and starts conducting, resulting in his arrest. Elizabeth "Libbie" Bowen (Lena Olin), a doctor at a psychiatric hospital, takes an interest in his condition and falls for him, has sex with him, and has to resign from her position.