A brother and sister depart war-torn Italy in 1947 and cross the Atlantic to reunite with their father in Benton, New Jersey. As the seasick brunette dreams of eligible Americani, the young fellow dreads the prospect of dealing with his cantankerous Papa. Meanwhile, in Benton, another Italian-American family bickers over mundane issues with burlesque animation. Partnerships test the patience of the brothers and domesticity puts the women at odds. These economically disparate clans, the Camaras and the Matteos, cross paths after Teresa Camara literally bumps into love-starved Mack Matteo. Instead of letting their mutual attraction evolve slowly into something more, her scheming father takes matters into his own hands, placing their relationship on course for possible disaster. While the households of the Camaras and the Matteos are fraught with normal sibling rivalry and shared secrets, a few obnoxious family members engage in irreverent and ludicrous behavior, causing total mayhem and discord. One unscrupulous brother's involvement in an embezzlement scheme leads to murder. How the two families cope with the absurdities of love, intimacy and life unfolds in a true comedy of errors, complete with laughter and tears. Famiglia...family is family, like it or not