"Sonny" (Timothy Bottoms) and "Duane" (Jeff Bridges) are best pals in a remote Texan town that offers them little by way of prospects. They both vie for the love interest of "Jacy" (Cybill Shepherd) although she is supposed to be dating "Duane". She comes from the family that passes for wealth in "Anarene" and her mother (Ellen Burstyn) has essentially told her to keep her options open and see which, from an extremely limited gene pool, might offer her the best prospects. For most of their lives, "Sam" (Ben Johnson), himself a symbol of a bygone era, was a sort of father figure and his death l...