Eva (Shirley MacLaine), a widow and retired history teacher, enjoys a quiet life. Everything changes when she receives a life insurance check accidentally made out for $5,000,000 instead of the expected $50,000. At the not-so-gentle urging her best friend Maddie (Jessica Lange), Eva deposits the money and the two friends head to the Canary Islands with every intention of living it up. But their fantasy is short-lived when they discover that they have become media sensations overnight. Fugitives from justice, the two are forced to outwit a trio of con men, led by the local Wine "warlord", Carlos (Santiago Segura), outmaneuver a dogged life insurance agent Vespucci (Howard Hesseman).