It's Christmas Eve in the tropical prison colony of Cayenne, French Guiana, where the temperature has graciously dropped to 104 degrees. Hopeless shopkeeper Felix Dulay has hired three convicts - two of them murderers, the third a swindler - to fix his roof. But when Felix's evil cousin arrives to oust Felix and his family from their business, the three convicts realize the Dulays need a few guardian angels, and decide to use every criminal art they possess to set matters right.