The neighbourhood is tough. New-built concrete towers, which are not yet completely finished but already slum. Daily police raids. Daily suicide jumps from the roofs. Here lives Sally in a two-bedroom, with her parents and younger brother. Sally is dreaming big. She wants to be a fighter pilot, and she wants to be rich! She has already started her own business, collecting empty bottles and bits and pieces of scraps. And Sally don't care much for the immigrants in her area. She takes every opportunity to vent her inner racist. Turkish Zuhal move in with his family. "A new flock of Bedouins" Sally condescendingly comments. But what she does not know is that this will be one of the major turning points in her life ...

A new foreman, Huus, arrives in a sleepy Danish village, much to the delight of the unmarried women there. However, Huus becomes very friendly with Katinka and her husband, Bai, the stationmaster. Katinka, childless and in frail health, gradually falls in love with Huus, though her husband does not seem to notice. Based on the work by Herman Bang.

Forever bungling private investigator Henry Brilliant (Chris Lemmon) has been hired by Maxine de la Hunt (Jean Simmons) to protect her step-daughter Marigold (Lea Thompson) during her trip to Denmark. A real caring parent should have hired an army of P.I.s to protect Marigold from Mr. Brilliant. His name, he's not.

The family Gyldenkål is actually called Iversen, but have changed their name, after numerous problems with the IRS, loan sharks and employers. Using clever scams, the family builds up a reputation as a wealthy and respectable part of society.