Bruno Bonomo (Silvio Orlando) was a famous producer of b-movies in 70s; after a long hiatus, following the commercial fiasco of "Cataratte", Bonomo is going to be signed by RAI in order to produce a film about Cristoforo Colombo's homecoming. When the director Franco Caspio (Giuliano Montaldo) quits the project, Bonomo is forced to offer another screenplay to RAI, which is "Il Caimano" a screenplay he stumbled upon, written by the young director Teresa (Jasmine Trinca). The film-in-the-film is centered on the figure of Italy's prime minister and media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, a subject so controversial that even the public television refuse to produce it. While Bonomo's private life collapses piece by piece, as he's divorcing from his wife (Margherita Buy), and the bank is pressing him hard to pay back his long-standing debts, he finds out that struggling to get this movie filmed is the only thing that keeps him alive.

布鲁诺·布诺姆是20世纪70年代知名电影制片人，在电影制作和婚姻生活方面均一败涂地。历经众多影片商业失败后，他一度失业。后来，他与意大利体育台签约，计划拍摄一部关于哥伦布归来的影片，然而合作的著名导演卡斯皮欧Caspio（吉拉诺·蒙太多饰）拒绝参与该项目，布鲁诺·布诺姆只能另谋出路。年轻女导演特丽萨Teresa（洁丝敏·婷卡饰）将剧本《凯门鳄》送到他手中，布鲁诺·布诺姆未看剧本便答应合作，只因被这位年轻的未婚妈妈深深吸引。由于特丽萨的剧本《凯门鳄》讽刺了意大利总理兼媒体大亨西尔维奥·贝鲁斯科尼，这是个颇具争议的话题。西尔维奥·贝鲁斯科尼权势滔天且与黑手党有联系，人人都惧怕这部影片，连公共电视台都拒绝出品，资金和演员也成了大问题。此时，银行要求布鲁诺·布诺姆偿还长期欠款，他的生活陷入崩塌，变得穷困潦倒。他必须找到投资人，和特丽萨一起拍好《凯门鳄》并让影片公映，这是他“复活”的唯一希望。布鲁诺·布诺姆劝说一位波兰大亨（杰吉·斯图尔饰）为电影投资，以著名演员马可·普里齐Marco Pulici （米歇尔·普拉西多饰）出演主角作为交换条件。