Lance Barton (Rock) is a stand-up comedian who is failing miserably. When he's run over by a bus and finds himself at heaven's gate, he is convinced there has been a mistake. He happens to be correct as an over zealous angel (Levy) happened to take him prematurely.

Because Lance was an organ donor, he can't be returned to his original body, so the head angel (Palminteri) decides to provide Lance with a "temporary loaner" until a more suitable host body can be found.

His "loaner" is most unsuitable as Lance finds himself in the body of a rich white man whose wife and her lover are trying to bump off. To make matters worse, Lance still dreams of being a stand up comedian and falling in love. To that end, he soon falls in love with a crusading public-defender/social activist (King).