A stand-up comic haunted by a family secret...

It's 1980, Los Angeles. Dan Goodis is a struggling, irreverent stand-up comic who likes to speak his mind. When he witnesses the brutal assassination of a brilliant hermit physicist, it sets him on a path that leads to the discovery of his father's dark CIA past, and he soon learns that being funny can be deadly serious business.

Before he is murdered, the physicist inadvertently gives Dan a secret code. Dan doesn't want to be involved, but soon discovers he has no choice: he is being hunted down by members of a secret cabal who want to silence him and stop him from revealing what he knows.

Obsessed with the puzzle, Dan realizes he must solve the riddle of the hermit's death if he is going to find a way out. He enlists the help of his family and friends, as well as his new lover, Lauren. But he quickly finds out that by involving his allies, he has exposed all of them to imminent danger.

Dan realizes he is in too deep, and there is no turning back. It seems his only option is to put everything on the line, though he knows that disclosure of the hermit's code could cost him his life.