It's a hot July day in 1933 in South Philadelphia, where 12-year-old Gennaro lives with his widowed mother and his dying grandfather, who sits outside clutching his last quarter, which he has promised Gennaro and which Gennaro wishes to use to purchase a ticket to the posh new movie theater. However, grandpa is not ready to part with the quarter or with his ultimate reward: he has unfinished business with a woman from his past, and he enlists Gennaro to act as his ambassador.