Jim begrudgingly returns to his hometown in rural Indiana after failing to make it on his own in New York. He soon remembers why he left: a doting but overbearing mother, a distant father, and a depressed older brother whose "accidents" seem suspect at best. Jim is soon forced to take on his brother's duties -- working at his parent's factory and helping out with his two rambunctious nieces. Crippled by obligations and anxieties, Jim trudges on though every day monotones and the family's collapse after mom is mistakenly taken for a suburban drug smuggler. Almost miraculously, hope springs from his developing relationship with a local nurse and her young son, and Jim slowly learns to move forward without leaving anyone behind.