Alex (Pitt) is a failed painter who decides he would rather steal great art than paint it. As he travels across Europe, he meets a bored rich girl, Karoline (Poots), who gets a sexual thrill from art theft. Their "Bonnie and Clyde"-esque escapade is cut short when Alex's arrogance leads to his capture.

In an effort to save him, his co-dependent mother (Huppert) destroys $2 billion dollars worth of irreplaceable masterpieces by chopping them up and tossing them into the nearby Rhine Canal. Alex and his mother are sent to jail, but in a strange twist of irony, Alex's jailhouse paintings become collector's items.