Widowed world-famous neurosurgeon Michael Hfuhruhurr (Steve Martin) is trapped in a loveless marriage with Dolores Benedict (Kathleen Turner), who is interested only in Hfuhruhurr's money. On a trip to Vienna to attend a medical conference, Hfuhruhurr falls in love with a bottled brain (voiced by Sissy Spacek), and finds himself in the middle of murders committed by the elevator killer.