BOSSA NOVA is a romantic comedy about several couples that break up or hook up in present day Rio de Janeiro. Encounters far exceed break ups to a soundtrack of Tom Jobim's Bossa Nova classics. His song "Vou te contar", internationally known as "Wave", says: "Fundamental é mesmo o amor, é impossível ser feliz sozinho." ("Love is fundamental, it's impossible to be happy alone.").

It is in this idyllic but "useless landscape" ("Inútil Paisagem", title of yet another of Jobim's songs) for lonely hearts that nine characters cross each others paths and destinies, unleashing new passions. The epicenter of all this activity is an attractive English teacher, Mary Ann Simpson (Army Irving), a former flight attendant and a widow who's been living in Rio for two years, since the death of her husband, a Brazilian pilot. Pedro Paulo (Antonio Fagundes) is a lawyer who's also suddenly aware of the uselessness of the city's beauty when he witnesses the end of his seven-year marriage to Tânia (Débora Block), who leaves him for a Chineses Tai-Chi-Chuan teacher (Kazuo Matsui).