Bill Firpo (Nicholas Cage) is trying to stay straight, but at the behest of his brothers Dave, (John Lovitz), and Alvin (Dana Carvey), he agrees to help out on a bank robbery which they assure him cannot go wrong. Dave and Alvin have recently gotten out of jail, and the poorly guarded bank in the small town of Paradise, Pennsylvania, provides an opportunity for easy money they just can't pass up. The robbery proves successful, but they don't manage to beat the huge snowstorm out of town; snowed in with their loot, they are taken in by the unwitting townspeople they've just robbed, who give new meaning to the phrase "killing with kindness!"