In director Michael Caton-Jones's gripping drama (based on Tobias Wolff's autobiography), Caroline (Ellen Barkin) and her son, Toby (Leonardo DiCaprio), bounce from one relationship to another and finally end up in Washington state, where she marries Dwight (Robert De Niro), a modest mechanic. But Dwight fails to be the role model Caroline had hoped for, and Toby is desperate to escape from the weight of his heavy, abusive hand.