After surviving a heart attack, Frank is discharged from hospital with the doctor's advice to avoid excessive physical exertion in future. In the theater where Frank is employed as a doorman, a tango dance group is rehearsing. In the seclusion of the porter's lodge, Frank takes his first tango steps and develops an unprecedented fascination for this dance art. Smiled at by his friends, he hides his new passion from his wife Kathrin and daughter Paula and takes lessons with tango teacher Maresa, who gets him more and more enthusiastic about tango despite his corpulence. When Kathrin finds out that Frank, despite his failing health, is "spending himself" dancing the tango, he puts his family duties on the back burner and ultimately risks his life.