本片以法国中产阶级为背景讲述了政治暴力和恐怖，讥讽了政府的伪善和无能。纳达是一个法国的小型恐怖主义组织，成员都是无政府主义者，他们计划将美国大使从妓院绑架到巴黎并将他囚禁起来，以便换取赎金。然而法国政府并不关心被绑架人..

影片是简·奥斯汀的经典小说《理智与情感》的拉丁版本。故事背景为现代的洛杉矶。 　　姐姐诺拉·多米格兹（卡米拉·贝尔 Camilla Belle 饰）是一家法学院的学生，妹妹玛丽（阿丽夏·维加 Alexa Vega 饰）肄业在家，惟一在乎的就是购物和参加派对找乐子，她们和父亲一起在比佛利山过着极度奢华享受的生活。玛丽拒绝承认与生俱来的墨西哥血统当父亲突然过世之后，豪华的生活方式也就随之消失了。姐妹俩不仅变成了穷人，还被迫搬离现在的居所，搬到关系疏远的姑姑奥莉娅（阿德里安娜·芭拉扎 Adriana Barraza 饰）家中——位于洛杉矶东部博伊尔高地的一个以拉丁美洲人为主的社区。姐妹二人都感到非常地惊恐，她们既不会说西班牙语，也缺少应该具备的责任感，但是她们别无选择，只能慢慢地改变自己去适合一个全新的生活环境，把高档的跑车变卖掉，和普通人一样去搭乘公共汽车…… 　　最终诺拉和玛丽是否可完全融入到了这个一直以来都被她们拒绝接受的文化根源？

This film is an adaptation of the well-known novel of Benito Perez Galdos. The action takes place between the years 1865 and 1876. 　　The movie tells of a detailed manner among other things, a lover trio during a long period of time. On the one hand, we have to marriage Santa Cruz formed by the sweet and sympathetic Jacinta and the capricious and liar of "Juanito" Santa Cruz, belonging both to the rich and upper middle class of Madrid. The third member of this trio is the lover of "Juanito" Santa Cruz, "Fortunata", belonging to the lower and labor class, who lived in the suburbs. 　　What makes Benito Perez Galdos in this novel is an overwhelming criticism of the society of the moment, of their customs, of his blindness in religion, the great separation between social classes and between men and women. Along the novel are emerging numerous characters, all very different from each other, with personalities very marked.