Diane Lane stars as Lauren, a young American girl whose love of books finds a soul mate in Daniel (Thelonious Bernard) -- and romance blossoms. When Daniel slugs the egomaniacal director boyfriend of Lauren's self-absorbed actress mother (Sally Kellerman), the two are forbidden to date. But with the help of an aging pickpocket (engagingly played by Laurence Olivier), the two young lovers run off to Venice and spark an international chase.