The affluent Taylor clan gathers for the 25th wedding anniversary of liberal Georgetown professor Ellen and restaurateur Paul. Attending are their four children: Cynthia, an environmental lawyer like her husband Rob; Anna, a caustic lesbian comic; the teenager Birdie, a bohemian would-be wildlife scientist; and Josh, an unsuccessful novelist – and his poised fiancée Liz Nettles, who practices greetings in a mirror before meeting the family.
Liz is polite, but Ellen realizes she was a student who left Georgetown after Ellen challenged her totalitarian ideas in a paper advocating a one-party state. Liz shocks Ellen by gifting her new book, written with Josh's help, The Change: The New Social Contract, the cover showing an American flag with the stars placed at the center, supposedly to represent Americans uniting in the political center. Leaving, Liz tells Ellen privately that she is not afraid of Ellen anymore.
