Don't Come Knocking

An aging cowboy movie star deserts a film set and tries to reconnect with his mother, whom he hasn't seen in thirty years, only to learn that he has a child he never knew about. Hollywood star Howard Spence has seen better days. Today, he lives off his former fame. After another night of heavy drinking, he flees the set of the Western he is currently filming and rides off into the sunset like one of the heroes he has played throughout his life. His first refuge is with his mother in Elko, Nevada, whom he hasn't seen in ages. But he doesn't stay there long when she tells him that he may have a son he never knew about. This seems like a ray of hope to Howard. Maybe his life wasn't completely meaningless after all, maybe there is a place where he belongs somewhere. So he sets out to find this son and discovers a whole life he has missed out on in a small town in Montana. He finds love he thought he had lost in the waitress Doreen, and even a daughter no one knew about. If only it weren't for that persistent insurance agent who is determined to get Howard back on the set of his Western. —Arte Howard Spence (Sam Shepard) has seen better days. Once a big Western movie star, he now drowns his disgust for his selfish and failed life with alcohol, drugs, and young women. If he were to die now, nobody would shed a tear over him, that's the sad truth. Until one day Howard learns that he might have a child somewhere out there. The very idea seems like a ray of hope that his life wasn't all in vain. So he sets out to find that young man or woman. He discovers an entire life that he has missed. —Reverse Angle