Howard Spence (Sam Shepard) has seen better days. He has acted in many Westerns, but today he's just living off his former glory. After another night of debauchery, he flees the set of his latest movie riding away into the open prairie, like one of the heroes he so often portrayed. Seeking refuge at his mother's place, he soon learns that he might have a child somewhere that he never knew about. The very idea seems like a ray of hope that his life wasn't all in vain. Maybe there is even a place out there where he belongs! So Howard sets out to search for that son, or daughter, whoever it is, only to discover an entire life that he has missed so far, and a love he thought lost.