Anatoly Novoseltsev is a mousy single father and office stumblebum working at a statistics bureau in Moscow. In the hopes of being promoted, he is coaxed into charming his disagreeable and seemingly unfeeling boss, Ludmila Kalugina, or "Meany" as she's otherwise known by her subordinates. Helped by his colleagues Olya and Yura, Anatoly attempts to ease the yoke of Ms. Kalugina, and what follows in the wake of his graceless manoeuvres is completely unforeseen, as he awakens a side to her not yet known, even to herself..

Living together in a workers' dorm, Katerina and her friends are determined to make it in Moscow. But when a boorish cameraman forces himself on her, Katerina finds herself pregnant and alone as her friends move on. Twenty years later, Katerina is a factory director, outpacing her old roommates career-wise, yet still alone but for her daughter. Love seems possible again when she meets a genial mechanic.

In the waters of the Pacific Ocean, regular maneuvers of the Soviet and American squadrons are taking place. After months of autonomous navigation, our military frigate heads to its home base. The distress signal received forces sailors to change course. The CIA arranges a provocation: on a secret American base, one of the missile launchers was prepared for a real strike on the enemy’s squadron. Instead of saving people, Soviet sailors will have to intervene in the deadly game started by NATO. At the cost of tremendous effort, the crew of one of the Soviet ships managed to prevent the catastrophe provoked by CIA agents. They enter a real battle...