In lieu of prison, fast-talking con artist Tom Turner (Greg Kinnear) is sentenced to employment in the dead letter department of the post office. Turner thinks he has found a perfect solution for all the undeliverable mail--and his own gambling debts--when he begins to plunder valuables found in the discarded letters. But when he mistakenly sends money meant for his bookie to the address of one of the "Dear God" letters, Turner finds himself the unexpected leader of a crusade of good will--and an accidental hero to the entire city.