For the small working class city of Keighley, where the most entertaining activity is watching the grass grow, and watching the sheep eat it, something extraordinary and totally unexpected has happened – It’s been chosen to host the prestigious National Hair Championships – a glamorous competition know to bring out the best … and worst in its participants.

Local hairdresser Phil (ALAN RICKMAN) was once the golden boy of the competition circuit – until his wife and model Shelley (NATASHA RICHARDSON) left him and their son Brian (JOSH HARTNETT) to set up shop with Sandra (RACHEL GRIFFITHS). Retired from the scene, he wants nothing to do with all the excitement surrounding the beautiful and stylish crowd that has flocked to the town.

But as preparations for the big event unfold around him, it quickly becomes evident that several of the out-of-towners aren’t playing by the rules, and that it’s up to the locals to make it clear that they’re not going to tolerate the usual foul play.

So rivals Phil, Shelley and Sandra decide to put aside their differences, and to team up to prove that just because a competition is fixed doesn’t mean it can’t be broken. But diving hairfirst into the mayhem stirs up more than they bargained for and now, as the stakes grow higher, they’ll have to pull out all the stops if they hope to come out on top.