Attempting to escape the stress of the city, Disc jockey Curtis Cooke and his very pregnant wife, Tamara move from the ""windy city"" into their new southern california neighborhod--the planned community of Woodland Heights. The Cookes are African-American professionals who think they have found paradise in this quiet suburban oasis until they meet their new neighbor Carmine ""The King of Mufflers"" Santucci and his trophy wife Lisa. Within hours of their arrival, Carmine's barbeque vanishes, and he blames Curtis. Meanwhile, another neighbor, Will Marek, a novelist with chronic writer's block, befriends Curtis and the two become running buddies. When Will discovers that jogging with Curtis evokes a past memory of being mugged, he is able to overcome his writer's block. This realization offends Curtis but the two soon bond after Will finds the Santucci BBQ in Curtis' garage.