A man's death inspires his three best friends to reevaluate their lives.

Gus, Harry, and Archie, three husbands with families in suburban New York, are shaken when their best friend, Stuart Jackson, suddenly dies of a heart attack. Unable to return to work after the funeral, they spend two days playing basketball, sleeping in the subways, and going on a drinking spree until Gus, a newspaperman, and Archie, a dentist, are ready to go back to their middle-class lives. Harry has a vicious argument with his wife, however, and soon decides to go to London. He convinces the other two to fly with him, and upon arrival they check into an expensive hotel, dress in formal clothing, and visit a gambling casino. There they meet three young women whom they take back to their hotel suite; Gus pairs off with Mary Tynan, Archie stays with Julie, a Chinese woman who cannot speak English, and Harry spends the evening with Pearl Billingham, in spite of his guilt feelings about adultery. The next morning, Gus and Archie decide to return home, but they cannot convince Harry to leave with them, Instead, Harry introduces them to Diana Mallabee and two other women he is entertaining and throws a party for his departing friends. Back at the airport in New York, Gus and Archie buy gifts to placate their families and return home.