Anatoli Yefremovich Novoseltsev works in a ratings company, whose director is an unattractive and bossy woman. An old friend of his, Yuri Grigorievich Samokhvalov, who gets appointed assistant director, wants to make Novoseltsev the manager but encounters objections from Ludmila Prokopievna Kalugina, the director. Samokhvalov then advises Novoseltsev to lightly hit on the boss. Ironically, Novoseltsev and Kalugina fall in love with each other...
Na década de 1970, jovem universitário que se proclama "dissidente" disputa com o amigo comunista o amor da doce Lyuda, enquanto o entusiasmo socialista na URSS vai sofrendo uma gradual, porém contínua, erosão.
