CHANGING HABITS is an innocuous serious-comedy about a maladjusted, struggling artist who matures with the aid of a compassionate suitor and sagacious nuns. Short on guffaws and long on exposition, this fact-based yarn about psychological healing annoys viewers with a heroine whose self-centered antics are supposed to be an expression of her winsome free-spiritedness.

Aspiring painter Soosh Teague (Moira Kelly) doesn't want to depend on handouts from her father, renowned artist Theo Teagarden (Christopher Lloyd), whom she blames for her mother's suicide. Turning her back on Theo, independent Soosh supports herself by shoplifting, ripping off the boutique where she works, and getting room and board at a convent in exchange for providing minor care for elderly residents. She spends her free time painting a highly personal mural in the convent basement.

When Soosh is caught stealing art supplies, the store's good-natured owner, Felix Shepherd (Dylan Walsh), agrees not to prosecute her if she will date him. Although Soosh resists Felix's affection, he wins her over.

When the Bishop (Bob Gunton) threatens to sell the religious order's residence, the resourceful Mother Superior (Eileen Brennan) calls attention to the rushed-through sale by publicizing Soosh's expressive mural. After doing a little research, Felix provides Soosh with some startling information about her mother's death: depressed by a failed writing career and addicted to drugs (factors which led to Theo's alcoholism and neglect), Soosh's mom nearly killed her daughter as well as herself. Reconciled with her unfairly maligned father, Soosh can now respond to Felix's courtship wholeheartedly. Knowing her painting helped save the convent, Soosh moves in with Felix.