Raymond is a bank clerk that dream on Rio de Janeiro and the beautiful and exotic samba dancer Orlinda. He has a secret class of samba at night, where he teaches the rhythm and how to dance samba to British persons. One day, he finds that his wife is cheating him with his boss and he decides to rob the bank and go to Rio de Janeiro to meet his passion. In the arrival, he meets the cab driver Paulo, an authentic 'malandro carioca' (smart guy born in Rio) and he crosses the way of the powerful 'bicheiro' (owner of an illegal and popular Brazilian lottery, called 'jogo de bicho' - translating, would be animal lottery), getting into trouble.