Orphaned at a young age when their parents were killed in a car crash, Sammy and Terry have remained close despite the different paths their lives have taken. Married and divorced at a very young age, Sammy is a devoted if somewhat overprotective mother to her eight-year-old son, Rudy, who harbors romantic notions about his absentee father. Terry, on the other hand, leads a troubled and nomadic existence. When Terry comes home to borrow money, a disaster in his own life compels him to stay with Sammy and Rudy for a while and try to get his life together. Desperate to help her charming but seriously self-destructive brother get back on his feet before it's too late, Sammy is delighted when he strikes up a real friendship with Rudy. But if Sammy has been too routinized and domestic, Terry is too wild and irresponsible to be a reliable friend for Rudy. With good intentions on every side, Sammy and Terry's human limitations bump up against each other until a final crisis nearly forces them apart.