The film begins with three coincidences that occurred prior to the films beginning. It is Paul Thomas Anderson's way of letting the audience know that every occurrence is not just coincidence, but that it happens for a reason. We see Officer Kurring in his home, he has a dating service set up. He wants to be in a relationship, and he wants to be a good cop. He doesn't have a partner and on his first call of the day he encounters a woman with a dead man in her closet. A young boy raps to Kurring trying to give him clues as to who the killer is, but Kurring doesn't play along.
We also see Claudia doing cocaine and sleeping with a man from a bar. The next morning her father, Jimmy Gator shows up to tell her he has cancer. She screams at him to leave and he finally does. Soon after Kurring arrives at Claudia's apartment as her neighbors called the police due to excessive noise. She hides her drugs and Kurring enters her apartment. He is instantly smitten by her and eventually asks her on a date which they plan for that night at 10pm once his shift is finished.
We see Stanley, a young boy get picked up by his father and taken to a Burbank studio for a live taping of What Do Kids Know? a quiz show hosted by Jimmy Gator that has been running for over 30 years. Stanley has been dominating the show for weeks on end and his father pushes him to go because he wants the winnings for himself, and the other child contestants barely answer question they are only along for the ride. We are also introduced to Donnie who was nicknamed "Quiz Kid Donnie Smith" as he was on the same show decades prior and won a substantial amount of money that his parents took for themselves. He wants to get braces, but his employer, Solomon fires him and he won't have the money to do so.
Earl Partridge is another character we are introduced to. He is a television producer who once produced the quiz show. He is dying of cancer and being taken care of by a hospice nurse named Phil. Earl's much younger wife, Linda leaves their home to get his medications filled. Earl goes into a daze and tells Phil he wants to see his son Frank Mackey who he has been estranged from for decades so, Phil begins searching for Frank, who teaches men how to seduce women, by calling a number Frank has placed for his services in a Playboy magazine.
We see Linda picking up the prescriptions at the pharmacy and eventually going to their lawyer's office to confess that she doesn't want to take Earl's money. She slept with him for his money but has since fallen in love with him and doesn't want the guilt of having taken his money when she truly cares for him now.
On the quiz show Stanley tries to tell the adults that he needs to pee, but they won't let him go as the show is being taped live. He eventually wets himself and refuses to answer any more questions. His two other partners on the show get upset with him as the adults they are playing against begin to beat them. Stanley's dad eventually comes out, after Jimmy Gator collapses due to his cancer, and yells at his son to keep going and leaves him in his pee soaked pants. Stanley refuses to play the final round and the show has to cut early.
Back at Earl's Linda arrives home to find Phil attempting to reconnect Earl with Frank. She is enraged and screams at him as she doesn't want Frank anywhere near Earl. We see that Phil's call did get through to Frank who has been grilled by a reporter about his childhood. We learn that Earl left him to care for his dying mother at 14 and they have not spoken since. This enrages Frank to the point that he no longer speaks during the interview.
Kurring and Claudia go on their date where they confess to one another how lousy they are in their lives. Kurring tells her that he is a horrible cop, that he even lost his gun earlier while pursuing a man who was shooting at him, and he's ashamed, believing she won't want to be with him anymore. They eventually kiss and Claudia asks him to never see her again.
Linda has gotten into her car outside of her home and taken a prescription that was meant for Earl as she cannot bear giving him the morphine that will take away all his pain and allow him to slip into death. She passes out in her car while Phil decides to give the morhpine to Earl. Soon after, Frank arrives to see Earl. He tells his father he hates him, but eventually breaks down in tears saying that he hates him but doesn't want him to die. Earl eventually passes away with Frank by his side.
Donnie has decided to rob his boss, Solomon of the cash that is on hand at the store, but as he is driving away he realizes what he is doing is wrong. But, when he returns to put the money back he sees that his key has broken off in the door and he cannot get back in so he begins to climb a telephone pole next to the building to try to get in. Kurring sees him climbing as he drives past after his date with Claudia and turns around to stop him. Simultaneously, Jimmy Gator has just confessed to his wife at home that he has cheated on her during their marriage. She forgives him, but when she asks why Claudia won't see him he says it's because she believes that he molested her. His wife asks if he did, and all Jimmy says is that he doesn't know. She tells him he deserves to die alone and leaves him. Elsewhere, Linda is being treated by paramedics who are taking her to the hospital in an ambulance.
While all of these characters are in transit frogs begin to fall from the sky. One hits Donnie in the face and he falls and cracks his teeth on the pavement, and Kurring pulls him under a gas station covering for protection. Jimmy's wife makes it to Claudia's apartment for safety, and Linda's ambulance crashes as they arrive at the emergency room. Jimmy tries to shoot himself, but a frog hits his gun before he can. The frogs eventually stop falling from the sky and Kurring's gun falls from the sky right in front of him as they do. Stanley tells his father that he has to stop being mean to him, and his dad only tells him to go back to bed. Frank goes to the hospital to see Linda. We see Claudia on her bed and as music plays we see Kurring come in and sit on her bed.
