"The Extra Man" follows Louis Ives, a lonely dreamer who fancies himself the hero of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. When a deeply embarrassing incident forces him to leave his job at an exclusive Princeton prep school, Louis heads to New York City to make a fresh start. He quickly finds a 9-to-5 job at an environmental magazine, where he encounters an entrancing, green-obsessed co-worker Mary. But, what really sparks Louis' imagination is his new home life. He rents a room in the ramshackle apartment of Henry Harrison, a penniless, wildly eccentric and brilliant playwright. When Henry's not dancing alone to obscure music or singing operettas, he's an "extra man," a social escort for the wealthy widows of Manhattan high society.