J.C. Quinn

An absent-minded-professor father and his son bond during a symbolic road trip through the Western U. S. while his wife tries to overcome her neuroses to save the family. An enthusiastic professor decides to drive with his son from their home in California to a natural crater in Idaho in exactly the same time as Apollo XI gets from Earth to Moon, while his wife stays home struggling with her fear of the outside world.

Babe Ruth becomes a baseball legend but is unheroic to those who know him. The Babe is a biopic of George Herman 'Babe' Ruth. The film follows his seemingly bi-polar life from being abandoned by his father at an orphanage, to the discovery of his tremendous home-run hitting ability and finally to his later days. Several items from his legend are included (whether true or not) including: His calling of of a home run, the promise to a dying youngster to hit two home runs in a game that day, and the quote that he had a better year than the president.

Race driver Cole Trickle is discovered by a businessman and teamed up with legendary crew chief and car-builder Harry Hogge to race for the Winston Cup at the Daytona 500.

In spring 1978, Brad Whitewood, Jr. impresses his brother, Tommy, by hanging from the hood of a car to retrieve Tommy's stolen money from the driver. Then, he dusts himself off, and makes conversation with a pretty blonde girl named Terry, and her girlfriend, Jill, in the town square. He offers white pills to the girls. As Terry swallows one, Brad, Jr. asks when and where he can see her again. She promises to return to the square in two days. The next day, Brad, Jr. and his friend, Lucas, are home when a stranger appears and asks to see Brad's mother. When Brad, Jr. says she is not around, the stranger peels off three hundred-dollar bills and leaves them on the kitchen table. He addresses Brad, Jr. by his name, but mistakes Lucas for Tommy, then leaves. Later, Brad, Jr.'s mother pockets the money, but has no interest in seeing the stranger who is her ex-husband, Brad Whitewood, Sr. Meanwhile, Brad, Jr.'s grandma warns him to stay away from his father. At night, Brad, Jr. waits for Terry at the square, but she never appears. Later at home, Brad, Jr. and his mother's boyfriend, Ernie, have a fistfight over the sound volume on the television. When Ernie tosses Brad, Jr. in the dirt outside, Brad, Jr. calls his father to come get him. As they drive in Brad, Sr.'s car, the father denies he is a thief. At the Whitewood residence, Brad, Jr. is introduced to Uncle Dickie, Patch, Boyd, Tony Pine, who is an epileptic, and Aunt Mary Sue. Brad is left to make small talk with Mary Sue, while his father and the other men go to rob a safe. The next day, father and son go into town, and Brad, Jr. is impressed when he sees what makes his father a successful scammer. Later, Brad, Jr. sees Jill at school and asks her for Terry's address. He hitchhikes to Terry's farm. She tells him that her mother grounded her for two weeks when she tried to sneak out to meet him, and says she has heard rumors that his father is a criminal. He tells her not to believe the gossip. She gives him her telephone number, and he kisses her goodbye. Later, Whitewood gang member, Patch, suggests that he could teach Brad, Jr. a few things about crime, and they go off to brainstorm. Brad, Sr. buys his son a car, but discourages him from teaming up with Patch. When Brad, Jr. suggests that his father teach him how to be a successful criminal, Brad, Sr. refuses, and orders him to return to his mother. The next day, Brad, Sr. takes Brad, Jr. and Tommy for a ride and points out the area homes belonging to wealthy people. At a restaurant, he gives the boys a gun, and when Tommy is excited, he tells them they cannot have it until they prove themselves. Tommy is ready to put Brad, Sr.'s word to the test that night. Meanwhile, Lester, an old associate, interrupts them, and says he is looking for some action. However, Brad, Sr. accuses Lester of being a police informant and waves him away. Later, Brad, Jr. rounds up his friends to rob a farm. The owner discovers the gang on his property, and shoots Brad, Jr. in the face as the boys escape. Brad, Jr. calls his father, who refuses to help. He tells his son to ask his girlfriend for assistance. Terry cleans Brad, Jr.'s wound, and he spends the night with her. The next day, they sneak out, and spend the day on the lake with his friends. At night, Terry tells Brad, Jr. she has to return home or her mother will call the police. Brad, Jr. promises her that he will make enough money to buy a house that they can live in someday. One day, Brad, Jr. and Terry meet his father and his associates at a bar. When Brad, Jr. asks his father for work so that he can afford a house, the gang walks off. The father warns his son that in the future those kinds of conversations have to be held in private. He later agrees to show Brad, Jr. how he works to see if he likes the life. At a restaurant, Brad, Sr. and his gang see Lester talking with Detective Mosker. Outside in the parking lot, Brad, Sr. bullies Lester into joining them on a job to prove his loyalty. During the drive, Brad, Sr. gets Lester high on drugs and alcohol and interrogates him. Lester says that the FBI has been brought in to investigate the Whitewood gang's activities. Brad, Jr. watches as they stop near a lake, and Patch drowns Lester. One day, as Tommy watches Brad, Jr. work on his car, Brad, Sr. arrives with a shiny new sports car, and asks his sons for help on a job. Brad, Jr. refuses and his father drives off angry. Instead, Brad, Jr. recruits his friends to commit a robbery, but they get caught by the police, and thrown in jail. Brad, Sr. offers $12,000 to Brad, Jr.'s grandma for his bail, but she refuses it. Later, Brad, Sr. drives Lucas and Terry to jail to visit Brad, Jr. On the way, Terry becomes drunk on Brad, Sr.'s liquor. They stop at a motel where Brad, Sr. tells Terry she knows too much and has to stop seeing his son. When she refuses, he rapes her. Later, Terry tells Brad, Jr. in jail about her ordeal. He retaliates by giving the FBI information on his father. When Lucas is subpoenaed by a Grand Jury, Brad, Sr. lures him out on a job, and kills him. He also kills Tommy and another friend the same way. Brad, Jr. is released from jail after giving up more information. He plans to leave town with Terry and relocate out west near her relatives. Next, Brad, Sr. plots to kill Terry. Grandma gives $400 to help Brad, Jr. and Terry's escape. As the couple gets ready to drive off, shots ring out in the night. Terry is killed. Brad, Jr. stumbles out of the car and washes off the blood from his wounds. Later, he visits his father and pretends nothing has happened. In the bathroom, he retrieves a gun hidden on a shelf. Back in the kitchen, he confronts his father about Tommy and Terry. Brad, Sr. tries to calm him by saying he knows how the police can mess up a person's thinking. Brad, Jr. asks him if the gun he holds killed everyone, and fires a few stray shots. As Brad, Sr. tells his son that he loves him, Brad, Jr. presses the gun against his father's face, but says killing him would be too easy. He wants his father to suffer every day and die slowly. Soon, Brad, Jr. testifies against his father at a Grand Jury hearing.

In the city of Spokane, Washington, 18-year-old Louden Swain (Matthew Modine) is determined to make history at his Thompson High School wrestling team. His coach (Charles Hallahan) chastises him for attempting to wrestle at a much lower weight class, but after a successful spar with his teammate, Kuch (Michael Schoeffling), Louden dedicates himself to lose even more weight. He tells Kuch that his secret goal is to wrestle a rival named Shute, who is twenty-pounds lighter. Kuch reveals Louden's plan to the school, and, pretending to be Native-American, Kuch insists that Louden is on a "vision quest" to find his "place in the circle." Sometime later, Louden visit his mechanic father, Larry (Ronny Cox), at the car dealership where he works, and arrives after a scuffle between a salesman and a streetwise customer named Carla (Linda Fiorentino), who accused the salesman of selling her a "lemon." Believing Carla was exploited, Larry punches his co-worker. He sends Louden to take the feisty young woman out for a hamburger at a local diner. There, Carla reveals that is originally from New Jersey and that she used all her savings to buy the car to drive cross-country to San Francisco, California. Louden is smitten with the tough-talking woman, and asks his father if Carla can stay with them until her car is repaired. She hesitantly accepts the offer. Louden resumes his strict training, and, over time, Carla drops her guard. She confides to Louden that she is moving to San Francisco in hopes of being an artist. Sometime later, Louden sizes up his rival, Shute (Frank Jasper) from the rival Hoover High School, and watches him carry a log up a flight of stairs as part of his training. At the hotel where Louden works part-time as a room-service attendant, he tells his co-worker and the late night cook, Elmo (J.C. Quinn), he is in love with Carla. However, Carla remains distant. When she sketches a picture of Louden, he is flattered. After work, Carla sees Louden at a bar (where singer Madonna is in attendance and performing her song 'Crazy For You') and asks him to dance, but he is disappointed to learn she is on a double date with a local couple. At school, Louden collapses from dehydration. As he recovers, he tells his English teacher, Mr. Tanneran (Harold Sylvester), that he is in love with Carla. Worried about Louden's health, Carla visits him during wrestling practice and causes a stir among his teammates, but he is discouraged when she compares him to a stepbrother. Louden's coach disapproves of his rigorous training, and forbids him from losing any more weight. However, Louden impresses his teammates by reaching the top of a climbing peg board, and the coach allows the boy to continue training. Sometime later, Louden suffers a nosebleed while he is arm wrestling in the hotel kitchen with Elmo and worries if he can continue. He sees Carla on a date with Mr. Tanneran at a local restaurant and feels betrayed. When Carla confronts Louden about giving her the "silent treatment," he pushes her on the bed and orders her to have sex with him. She curses, but forgives his behavior. Louden visits Kuch at home, and sees him slapped and berated by his abusive and alcoholic father (James Gammon). Afterward, Louden consoles his friend and shares the story of his own mother, who left the family a few years earlier after their farm was foreclosed. Kuch confesses that he lied about being Native-American. Carla attends a wrestling match and cheers Louden on, but he is forced to forfeit when he suffers an uncontrollable nosebleed. Afterward, his nemesis, Shute, tries to intimidate him. Carla takes Louden out for coffee, and he asks her to stay in town. When he acquiesces to her relationship with his teacher, she kisses him. In time, Louden's nosebleeds continue, and his father insists he take a break from training and visit his grandfather out of town. Carla offers to join him on the road trip. While camping, Louden admits he is a virgin, and Carla confesses that she and Louden's teacher, Tanneran, are only friends. The next day, Carla kisses Louden and they make love for the first time. Afterward, Louden wonders aloud why he cares so much about beating Shute, but Carla encourages him to confront his rival. Sometime later, Louden returns from school to find Carla gone. He is distraught, and nearly misses his long-awaited weigh-in at his match with Shute. He arrives at the last minute and learns he has hit his target weight of 168 pounds. Before the match, Carla finds him alone in the locker room, and apologizes for hurting him, explaining she left because she thought she was a distraction. When Louden tells her he has no regrets, Carla emboldens him to win the match. Louden's friends cheer him on during the tense bout with Shute. He suffers a nosebleed in the final seconds, but his coach gives him a pep talk. In the end, Louden wins, and the crowd cheers.

Correction, he is not in prison in Alabama! There is a Huntsville, Texas, where a State Prison is located. The entire movie takes place in Texas & Mexico.