Berthier (Gérard Jugnot) is a former executive who finds it easier to pretend to his family that he wasn't fired than to suffer their concern and pity, and possibly the loss of their love. He goes off to "work" each day and returns home with presents for his family. Instead of a regular job, however, he has fallen in with an informal association of amateur thieves and con-men, led by the charming and even occasionally genuinely helpful Toubib (Richard Bohringher). Each of the men is touchy about something and may fly off the handle if not approached in the right way. Though the leader Toubib will double-cross any one of them for fun, when things get really serious, he exerts himself to help out. These lads are not sweethearts, and they do some pretty awful things, but there is a fundamental innocence about them which their unlawful and sometimes violent deeds cannot sully. Eventually, Berthier disappears into the streets for several months and must finally cope with his fears when he returns to his wife.