The announcement that an enormous asteroid will obliterate Earth in less than a month brings an end to the marriage of mild-mannered insurance salesman Dodge (Steve Carell), whose wife leaves him on the spot. After his bold young neighbor, Penny (Keira Knightley), belatedly delivers a letter from Dodge's former sweetheart, Dodge decides that he must find the love of his life before it's too late. Dodge and Penny embark on a road trip that eventually brightens their outlook, if not the world's.