John Schlesinger

Karen McCann (Sally Field) lives in Santa Monica, California, and her husband Mack McCann (Ed Harris) is the owner of the McCann construction company. Karen has a good job at a museum, and she has two daughters -- 5-year-old Megan (Alexandra Kyle) and 17-year-old Julie (Olivia Burnette). Mack is Megan's biological father, but Julie was born from Karen's previous marriage. Mack still loves Julie like she's his own daughter. Karen is on her way home from the museum one day, when she gets stuck in traffic. Karen calls home on her cell phone, and Julie answers. At the time of the call, Julie is preparing for Megan's 6th birthday. While they talk on the phone, the doorbell rings, and Julie goes to answer, with Karen still on the other end of the line. The man at the door the barges in, and brutally rapes Julie, before smashing an ice sculpture over her head. Karen -- having heard the whole thing -- is completely powerless, because she's stuck in traffic, though she desperately tries to get help. A kind Bystander calls 911 for her. When Karen manages to get home, she's devastated to find that Julie has been raped and killed. Detective Sergeant Joe Denillo (Joe Mantegna) is put on the case. And a grieving Karen tries to maintain normality for Megan's sake. However, her state-of-mind is weakening, and it's evident that all she wants is for Julie's killer to be found. Denillo tells Karen that the DNA samples that they collected will help identify the killer. In support, he gives Karen the address of a support center for parents who have lost a child to violence. Mac tells her that they should attend at least one session. The support group is run by bereaved father Sidney Hughes (Phillip Baker Hall) and his friend Martin (Keith David). At the meeting, Karen and Mac meet various people in similar circumstances, including Albert Gratz (William Mesnik) and Regina Gratz (Rondi Reed), who lost their son to violence. Karen also meets Angel Kosinsky (Charlayne Woodard), a young lesbian whose son, Sean, was killed in a hit-and-run. Karen befriends Angel. While looking for the bathroom, Karen overhears Albert and Regina talking to Sidney -- in a private room -- about something that's causing Regina to feel scared. Sometime down the line, Denillo calls Karen -- the DNA samples have identified Julie's killer as Robert Doob (Kiefer Sutherland), a supermarket deliveryman who has been in and out of jail for most of his life. At the trial, even though it's clear that Robert is guilty, his attorney, Susan Juke (Natalia Nogulich), reveals a technicality -- the defense was promised a sample of the DNA that they could perform their own tests on, and they did not receive it. Judge Arthur Younger (Armin Shimerman) is forced to dismiss the charges against Robert because of the technicality. Karen and Mac are devastated as Robert walks away, a free man. Robert tauntingly says "S-s-s-sorry," dragging out the 's' sound as a way of taunting Karen and Mac. An understandably enraged Mack is coldly restrained when he understandably charges after Robert. Mac is desperate for he and Karen to get back to normal, and although Karen tries, she can't focus until Robert is brought to justice. Karen goes back to the court house, and buys a copy of Robert's arrest package. Though Robert's addresses is colored out with Tipp-Ex out, the County Clerk (Jane Morris) hints that the stuff is easy to wipe off. Karen does so, and she tracks Robert to a mostly Hispanic neighborhood. Karen observes Robert as he lives his life -- annoying his neighbors and viciously harassing stray dogs. Karen keeps a detailed record of Robert's movements, all of which bring her relief and satisfaction, though she's warned by Dolly Green (Beverly D'Angelo), her colleague at the museum, that following Robert around is not a good idea. That doesn't stop Karen. She pursues Robert, while he continues his supermarket-delivering, to a house. There, she observes him having a friendly conversation, in Spanish, with a woman named Maria (Wanda Acuna). After Maria tips him, he leaves -- before urinating in her front garden, while watching Maria from outside the window. As he finishes, he sees Karen, who has been watching him from her car window, and she quickly drives away. Karen goes straight to the police. Denillo states that the information is insufficient, and he tells Karen to stay away from Robert. Denillo then goes to Robert, who is at work, and he warns Robert that if he hears of Robert looking through anymore windows, he's dead. Denillo tells Robert to get out of the city. Desperate for support, Karen goes back to Maria, and warns her about Robert, but due to Maria not being able to speak or understand much English, she is unable to understand what Karen is saying. Maria's husband (Geoffrey Rivas) comes home, and demands that Karen leave. Later that night, at the Support Group, Karen learns that the killer of Gratz's son has been killed in a drive-by shooting, days after being released from prison. Angel invites Karen out to lunch and to the gym the following day. There, Angel tells Karen that the best way to cope with her grief is to just focus on the good times with Megan, which causes Karen to realize that -- all this time -- she's been so fixated on Robert, that she hasn't paid much attention to Megan. At the same time, Megan is in recess at kindergarten, playing in the Wendy house. A Wendy house, also known as a cubby house or play house, is a small toy house usually made of a strong fabric, for children to play in. The name originates from the character Wendy in Peter Pan, since Wendy was injured soon after her arrival in Neverland and had to recuperate in a little house built by Peter and the Lost Boys. Robert -- knowing that Megan is Karen's daughter -- crawls inside the Wendy house, and strikes up a harmless conversation with her, and Megan has no idea who he is. During their conversation, she gives Robert one of her pretend cookies, and he teaches her his crude rhyme -- "tough titty, said the kitty, but the milk's still good." When Karen picks Megan up at the end of the school day, Robert watches them, and Megan points him out to Karen. Karen is horrified as Robert walks up to Karen before whispering in her ear that girls as young as Megan is are not his thing, but he's willing to make an exception, and go after Megan, if Karen doesn't stay out of his neighborhood. Worried for Megan's safety, Karen remembers the Gratzes, and what happened to their son's killer, and she's suspicious that the killer's death may have been planned. At the support group, Karen approaches Sidney and -- remembering what she heard, on her first visit -- pleads with him for help. He's reluctant, but whispers to her to go to a place named Michael's Garage at 7:30 PM. Angel observes them from the other side of the room. Karen does as he says. She goes to Michael's Garage, where she finds Sidney and Martin waiting for her, and she learns that the drive-by shooting was indeed set up by Sidney and Martin. As it turns out, within the support group, there is a secret society of parents, led by Sidney, who kill killers that the system has horribly failed to adequately deal with. Karen demands help. They agree to help her find a weapon, train her, and plan Robert's death, but she has to kill Robert herself. Karen agrees. Unknown to Mac, Karen begins plotting to kill Robert, with the help of Sidney and Martin. She also joins a self-defense class, which helps her gain more independence. As she does that, she manages to rekindle her sex life with Mac, and her relationship with Megan, who is still reeling from losing Julie. Sometime later, Martin admits to Sidney that he's not sure whether Karen is capable of killing Robert. Sidney assures him that Karen will be fine, and he leaves, ready to pick up the gun. Just then, the phone rings. Martin answers, and it's one of his legitimate customers from the garage. Unknown to Martin, the telephone line has been tapped, and a cop is listening to all of the conversations that happen on the phone. Sidney meets with Karen in a restaurant, where he secretly passes the gun to Karen, and reminds her that she does not have to do it. But she makes it clear to him that she's prepared. That evening -- at the support group -- Angel, out of blue, says to her "Don't do it. You'll get caught. I'm telling you this, because I'm your friend." Karen is alarmed, but she says that she has no idea what Angel is talking about. That evening, Mac confronts Karen about learning to use a gun -- he found a card from the business that trains people in how to use guns. The two argue, before Mac suggests that they go on a vacation to help cope with their loss. The next day, Karen goes to see Angel at her house. When she knocks on the door, she's horrified when the door opens to reveal a little boy -- it's Sean (Ross Bagley), Angel's son, and he's alive. Karen recognizes him from the photos Angel showed her. Karen, dismayed, confronts Angel, who gently reveals to Karen that she's an undercover FBI Agent who has been investigating the support group. Angel tells Karen that killing someone is against the law, and that unless it's in self-defense, the police cold-bloodedly won't care why she killed Robert, and, most of all, Karen would end up spending the rest of her life in prison. Angel also adds "What kind of legacy are you leaving your little girl?" Reluctant, Karen is forced to call Sidney, tell him that she can't go through with it, and return to her normal life. Meanwhile, Robert is continuing with his life, delivering groceries. He goes back to Maria's home. This time, he walks into her house, and waits while she gets him his tip. Just after Maria gives Robert the tip, he grabs Maria, throws her against the wall, and forces her onto the table, where he brutally rapes and kills her, just like he did to Julie. Karen is horrified when she learns of the murder. When Karen meets with Denillo at the police station, Karen is horrified even more to learn from Denillo that although Robert has been arrested for it, he's been released for lack of evidence -- there are perfectly plausible reasons for his fingerprints to be around the house, because of him making deliveries to Maria from the supermarket, and he used a condom while raping her. A highly frustrated Karen says to Denillo, "You can't catch him! You can't punish him! You can't protect anyone else! You're completely useless!" And then Karen storms out. Karen decides, despite Angel's warning, to go back to her original plan -- only this time, alone. Karen knows that the system won't do anything about Robert, and that gives her absolutely no choice but to do it herself. As Mac and Megan get ready to leave for the vacation that was planned, Karen tells Mac that she needs to stay late at the museum, and sort out an error at work. Mac agrees to drive ahead with Megan, and for Karen to meet with him the next day. Once they have gone, Karen goes back to Robert's home, and after finding Megan's pretend cookie, Karen leaves her baseball cap there, so Robert will know that she's been there. Later that night, Robert finds the hat, and decides to teach Karen a lesson, not knowing that he's falling right into Karen's trap. As Mac and Megan are driving to their destination, Megan mutters the saying, "tough titty said the kitty, but the milk's still good." Mac asks her where she learned that, and Megan tells him that she learned it from the man that mommy watches on the video -- meaning when Karen would watch Robert, as he was arrested, on the news. Mac immediately realizes that Karen is in danger, and he turns the car around to go back home. Meanwhile, Robert forces his way into the house, storms up the stairs, and sees the shower running, with the curtain drawn and a figure behind it. Robert smiles and pulls the curtain open, only to see a towel hanging on rail, creating the image of a person. Embarrassed, he turns around -- only to be confronted by Karen, who is holding a six-shot revolver. Karen angrily says "Sorry to disappoint you." Robert says "What are you gonna do? Shoot me?" Karen says "You broke into my house with the intent to do me bodily harm. The law says I have the right to protect myself." Robert sarcastically says "What? You want me to say I'm sorry? It could've been anybody. I don't even remember what she looked like. It's nothing personal." Karen says "She was seventeen years old. She was five-foot two. She had brown eyes. Her name was Julie. She was my daughter." Robert tauntingly says "She was a great ffffuck," dragging out the 'f' sound as he says it. Robert lunges at Karen, and they struggle with each other. A shot from Karen's gun hits the ceiling, leaving five shots left in the gun, and Karen stumbles down the stairs as the gun drops out of her hand. As Robert advances on her, he says "Like I said, it's nothing personal." Karen quickly grabs the gun, and says "It's very personal." In self defense, she shoots Robert, who is on the stairs. Now there are four shots left in the gun. When Robert tries to go down the stairs after Karen, she fires the gun's last four bullets into Robert, killing Robert in self-defense. Robert's body rolls down the stairs, and comes to a stop on top of Karen. The police are called, and they, along with Mac, arrive. The police take Robert's body away in a body bag. Denillo tells Karen that he's not fooled, and that he knows that she lured Robert to the house, with the intent of making him pay for raping and killing Julie and Maria. Karen, knowing that there's no way that Denillo can prove it, says "Prove it." Denillo, who also knows that he can't prove it, tells his colleagues that it's a clear case of self-defense. Karen and Mac embrace each other.

Christopher Boyce (Timothy Hutton), a young seminarian, leaves his religious studies and returns to his family home in Rancho Palos Verdes, an affluent peninsula in southern California. He reunites with his friend from childhood, Daulton Lee (Sean Penn). Daulton is a drug smuggler and dealer and is in trouble with the law. He asks Chris to partner with him in the drug business; Chris is not interested and declines. Charlie Boyce (Pat Hingle), Chris's father, pulls strings to get Chris a job at RTX, a large telecommunication company. Chris's polite nature and obvious intelligence at work bring him to the attention of executives Larry Rogers (Macon McCalman), Tony Owens (Jerry Hardin), and Eddie (Nicholas Pryor). After a security review, Chris is assigned to the Vault, a classified area of RTX that is responsible for transmitting encrypted messages among CIA agencies worldwide. Chris soon learns that he and his fellow vault employees, Laurie (Mady Kaplan) and Gene (Dorian Harewood), have free reign in their secret workspace, where they drink, play board games, and generally goof off. In the RTX vault, Chris reads some of the CIA transmissions. By reading and talking to Eddie, Chris learns that the CIA infiltrated Australian labor unions to the CIA's benefit. Chris tells Daulton that he thinks it's wrong for the CIA to get involved in the economy and politics of an ally. He suggests to Daulton that he steal top secret documents from the Vault and that Daulton deliver the documents to the Russian embassy in Mexico. Chris wants to weaken the American intelligence community. Originally, Daulton tells Chris he's a patriot and wants nothing to do with selling secrets to the Russians. However, when he is arrested for dealing by the DEA and facing serious jail time, Daulton decides to jump bail and move to Mexico, avoiding jail. Selling stolen documents will give him a revenue stream and he tells Chris he's interested. Chris photocopies classified documents related to the CIA satellites at RTX and gives them to Daulton. He tells Daulton never to reveal Chris's name to the Russians or else they will no longer need Daulton and then Daulton could be in danger. At the Russian Embassy in Mexico City, Daulton connects with a middle-aged official, Alex (David Suchet). Later, Daulton calls Chris at a pay phone with the code "My uncle says hi" which indicates that the Russians were interested in the documents. Inside his apartment, a shaken Chris calls home and speaks briefly to his mother, who is happy to hear from him and tells him she loves him but she has to run. Chris declines to talk to his father. Daulton continues to meet Alex in Mexico City in various locations, using spy tradecraft to exchange cash for documents. The Russians tell Daulton to get a special spy camera instead of using a copier to copy documents. At first, the deals go smoothly and Daulton is pleased with the cash. In the meantime, Chris meets a young woman, Lana, (Lori Singer) at a pet store. She moves in with him but Chris doesn't tell Lana what he's doing with the classified documents from RTX. Over time, Chris notices that Daulton is destabilizing. He's using heroin regularly and making mistakes, bragging at a party and telling a girl he's a spy. The Russians are getting tired of working with Daulton, because he is not delivering the satellite frequencies they desperately want. At RTX, the Vault is subject to a security inspection by the NSA with only a minute's notice. Chris, Laurie, and Gene frantically work to hide alcohol empties, sloppy work, and dope. The NSA inspector checks surfaces, phones, drawers, and other areas of the vault but finds nothing out of place except one binder. He asks Chris about it and he deflects to Gene. Chris wants to stop stealing the RTX documents and selling them, saying it's made no difference in the balance of power. Daulton, however, wants to grow the business, expand to smuggling drugs on top of documents. He tells Chris that this is his livelihood now and that if Chris refuses to supply more documents to sell, Daulton will tell Chris's father what they've been doing. Chris surprises Daulton by showing up at his hotel in Mexico City. They meet with the Russian handler, Alex, and depart to the embassy. At the embassy, Daulton, agitated, tears the room apart looking for a listening device. Alex tells Chris that he should continue to spy for Russia; he encourages Chris to go to school and then work for the government. Chris says he's not interested in any spying at all anymore and leaves with Daulton. At the airport, Daulton starts to break down, crying and saying he doesn't know who his friends are anymore. Christopher urges him to come back to the U.S. with him, but Daulton pulls himself together and remains in Mexico. At his apartment, Christopher has packed up all of Lana's belongings. He tells her to move out because he doesnt love her anymore. At RTX, Christopher takes secret photographs of the Pyramider Project, a defunct project that has little significance. He signs off from RTX as it's his last day at work. He enters his apartment, only to find his parents and colleagues have thrown him a surprise party. Christopher tells Daulton he wants to make one last delivery for $100,000. The friends agree they're finished with delivering secrets after this last one. Chris admits he was wrong, that the Russians are just as paranoid and manipulative as the U.S. Daulton tells Christopher he agrees; he's finished and he'll do jail time for his crimes if he has to. He says its too dangerous for Christopher to make the drop and travels to Mexico on his own. Daulton is denied entrance into embassy. Suddenly, he is arrested by Mexican police officers for the murder of a police officer; he is very confused and disoriented. He tries to bribe the police office arresting him but only makes the officer angrier. The police interrogate Daulton and torture him to get him to confess to the killing of a police officer. He refuses and is jailed. Eventually, he is released and given the choice of being deported to the U.S. or the Soviet Union. He chooses America. In California, Christopher is trying to reach Daulton by phone on his hotel and is unnerved when another man answers the phone in Daulton's room. He hangs up silently. At the airport, Christopher is trying to get a flight to a country that doesn't have an extradition agreement with the U.S. He sees various people looking at him and suspects they are with the police. He leaves the airport quickly. He senses they police are circling him and that he'll be arrested at any moment. Christopher finds Lana at her job at a movie ticket booth. He tells her that the police are going to ask her a lot of questions and that he really did love her. Mexican officials drop Daulton at the border, where he is immediately apprehended by heavily armed U.S. Marshalls. Christopher has taken his falcon Fawkes to an open field. He removes her jesses and tells her she's free. He watches as she spirals up in flight, then stops on a high branch. At that moment, multiple police vehicles arrive and arrest Christopher, calling him a traitor and knocking him roughly on the ground. Chris goes willingly, watching Fawkes. Christopher is debriefed by FBI agents in a government room. He stays composed and tells the truth over multiple days of interrogation. "What was once a legitimate intelligence gathering agency is now being misused to prey on weaker governments," he says by way of explanation. He thinks back to the day he left the seminary. At the Boyce home, Larry Rogers from RTX is talking about Christopher's case with Charlie Boyce, who tells Larry he doesn't want any favors made for his son. Christopher and Daulton are in shackles as they are brought from their sentencinl. Their parents watch as Chris and Daulton walk, chained, down a long hallway. We see images of the boys during their Confirmation and high school graduation ceremonies. Fawkes flies free in a perfectly blue sky. Andrew Daulton Lee was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. Christopher Boyce was found guilty and sentenced to 40 years imprisonment.

Thomas "Babe" Levy (Dustin Hoffman) is a history Ph.D. candidate and avid marathon runner researching the same field as his father, who committed suicide after being investigated in the Communist witch hunts of the Joseph McCarthy era. Babe's brother, Henry James Levy (Roy Scheider), known only as "Doc", poses as an oil company executive but in fact is a U.S. government agent working for a secret agency headed up by Director Peter Janeway (William Devane). Babe is not aware of his brother's true occupation. Doc is often supposedly out of the country on business for extended periods of time, but comes to New York under the guise of a visit to Babe. The brother of a Nazi war criminal possesses a safety deposit box key, but is killed in a traffic accident (after a road rage altercation with a short tempered middle-aged Jewish American motorist). Doc suspects that the criminal, Dr. Christian Szell (Laurence Olivier) will be arriving to retrieve an extremely valuable diamond collection. Szell later sends a burly assassin named Chen (James Wing Woo) to kill Doc in his Paris hotel room, but Doc fights the hit man and breaks his back. Babe enters into a relationship with a young woman named Elsa Opel (Marthe Keller), who claims to be from Switzerland. One night while out on a date Elsa and Babe are mugged in a park by two men dressed in suits. Some time later, Doc takes the couple to lunch, where he tricks Elsa into revealing that she has been lying to Babe about her background. Though Doc suspects she may have some connection to Szell, he tells Babe only that she is seeking an American husband so that she can become a U.S. citizen. After Szell arrives in America, Doc meets him to tell the former Nazi he is not welcome in the country, and also to warn Szell to stay away from Babe. Szell casually accepts the pronouncement, but then swiftly knifes Doc, wounding him severely. Doc is able to make it back to his brother's apartment, but collapses and dies in Babe's arms without telling him anything. The police interrogate Babe for hours, until government agents led by Peter Janeway arrive. Janeway asks Babe what Doc told him before he died, and informs Babe of his brother's career as a U.S. government agent. Babe insists that his brother did not tell him anything, but Janeway feels that Doc struggled all the way to Babe's apartment to give him vital information of some kind. Babe is later abducted from his apartment by Szell's henchmen, Karl and Erhardt (the two men from the park). In an infamous sequence, Babe is tortured by Szell, a skilled dentist, who repeatedly asks "Is it safe?" Confused by the question code phrase he does not understand, Babe denies any knowledge, but is tortured. The dentist offers him oil of cloves, an anesthetic, as positive inducement to cooperate. Eventually, Babe loses consciousness and Szell pauses his torture. Babe is then rescued by Janeway, who apparently kills Szell's bodyguards and takes Babe from Szell's hideout. As he drives, Janeway explains that Szell is in America to sell off his large cache of diamonds, which he had taken from Jews he had exterminated at Auschwitz during World War II. Janeway continually presses Babe about Doc's dying words, but Babe again insists he knows nothing. Frustrated, Janeway reveals himself as a double agent working with the Nazi criminal all along, and he turns Babe over to Karl and Erhardt (Janeway had only faked killing them). As it turns out, Szell is one of Janeway's highest level informants, and had informed on other Nazi war criminals in return for immunity. Delivered back into Szell's hands, the Nazi criminal has a curiously kindly conversation with Babe before calmly explaining why he is holding Babe for questioning. Szell suspected that Doc would attempt to rob him of his diamonds, or rat on him to authorities; thus his desire to know if it's "safe" to withdraw the diamonds, i.e., whether Doc told Babe any incriminating information. Still unable to extract anything from Babe, he proceeds to drill into one of Babe's healthy teeth. Babe eventually escapes again, this time on his own, with Janeway and Szell's two henchmen giving chase in a car. Though exhausted and barefoot, he is able to outrun his pursuers in part by remembering famous "marathon man" Abebe Bikila, who ran barefoot. After inviting a neighborhood acquaintance and his toughs to break into his apartment and steal his pistol (the same pistol his father used to commit suicide), Babe phones Elsa, who agrees to meet him with a car. She drives him to a country home as a hideout. Babe guesses that she has set him up; she confesses that Szell's dead brother owned the home, and that she was one of Szell's couriers. Janeway and Szell's men arrive, but Babe avoids an ambush by taking Elsa hostage. In another twist, Janeway kills Szell's men and offers to let Babe kill Szell in revenge for Doc's death if Janeway can have the diamonds. Babe agrees, but as he leaves to find Szell, Janeway attempts to shoot Babe, but kills Elsa instead when she tries to alert Babe. Angered, Babe guns down Janeway. Back in New York, Szell attempts to determine the value of his diamonds. However, he chooses an appraiser in the Diamond District in midtown Manhattan, where many of the shop owners are Jewish. A shop assistant who is also an Auschwitz survivor believes he has recognized Szell as a wanted Nazi criminal. After Szell hurriedly leaves the shop, an elderly Jewish woman also recognizes him, but passersby think she is senile. Trying to cross the street to get closer to Szell in order to expose him she is hit by a taxicab, causing a crowd to assemble to assist her. Amidst the confusion, the shop assistant appears again, directly confronting Szell. Becoming increasingly paranoid, Szell slits the man's throat with a retractable blade concealed in his sleeve. Szell retrieves his diamonds from the bank, but is taken hostage by Babe as he attempts to leave, who inconspicuously forces him into Central Park and into one of the pump rooms at the south end of the Reservoir. Babe holds Szell at gunpoint on a scaffold and seizes the diamonds; rather than kill Szell, Babe informs him that he will allow Szell to live and keep as many diamonds as he can swallow. Szell initially refuses, prompting Babe to begin throwing the diamonds into the water below them. Szell relents and swallows one diamond, but then refuses to cooperate further. Szell goes on to insult Babe, and after he spits in Babe's face, a fight erupts in which Szell tries to stab Babe. Babe throws the remainder of the diamonds down the scaffold steps towards the water; Szell dives for them, but stumbles, and fatally falls on his own knife blade. Picking up his gun, Babe exits the pump room and heads out into Central Park. Stopping by the Reservoir, he throws the gun into the water.

Young artist Tod Hackett (William Atherton) looks over an apartment in the new Depression Era Hollywoodland as a place to set up residence as he makes his way into the film industry. Hackett is like many other young men of the time seeking a career at one of the studios that make silent films in the 30s. Across from his bungalow lives Faye Greener (Karen Black) a young blonde who works as a film extra and very attractive to Hackett whose attempts to initiate a romantic relationship with the woman is rebuffed. Hackett aspires to great art as a painter visualizing his major work "Burning of Hollywood" but working as a set designer for a second rate producer Claude Estee (Richard A. Dysart) who was a graduate from Yale College as Hackett was. As Hackett gets involved deeper into the world of Faye and her former Vaudeville performer father Harry Greener (Burgess Meredith) who makes money selling elixir door-to-door he becomes more disillusioned over the mythic value of Hollywood. When Harry collapses at the home of unassuming accountant Homer Simpson (Donald Sutherland), Faye pulls Homer into the fringe world of film performers using him to live on while she pursues her career. As Hackett is exposed to more of the lifestyle in the film world of Los Angeles his vision of Mankind takes on bolder, grander imagery when an event at a film premier develops into mayhem.

As the film opens, Joe Buck (Jon Voight), a young Texan working as a dishwasher, dresses in new cowboy clothing, packs a suitcase, and quits his job. He heads to New York City hoping to succeed as a male prostitute for women. Initially unsuccessful, he succeeds in bedding a well-to-do middle-aged New Yorker (Sylvia Miles), but Joe ends up giving her money. Joe then meets Enrico Salvatore "Ratso" Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman), a street con man with a limp who takes $20 from Joe by offering to introduce him to a known pimp, who turns out to be a Bible thumper (John McGiver). Joe flees the encounter in pursuit of Ratso. Joe spends his days wandering the city and sitting in his hotel room. Soon broke, he is locked out of his hotel room and most of his belongings are impounded. Joe tries to make money by agreeing to receive oral sex from a young man (Bob Balaban) in a movie theater. When Joe learns that he has no money, Joe threatens him and asks for his watch, but eventually lets him go. The following day, Joe spots Ratso and angrily shakes him down. Ratso offers to share the apartment in which he is squatting in a condemned building. Joe accepts reluctantly, and they begin a "business relationship" as hustlers. As they develop a bond, Ratso's health, which has never been good, grows steadily worse. Joe's story is told through flashbacks throughout the film. His grandmother raises him after his mother abandons him, though his grandmother frequently neglects him as well. He also has a tragic relationship with Annie, a local girl. Ratso's back story comes through stories he tells Joe. His father was an illiterate Italian immigrant shoe-shiner, who worked in a subway station. He developed a bad back, and "coughed his lungs out from breathin' in that wax all day". Ratso learned shining from his father but won't stoop so low as to do so. He dreams of moving one day to Miami. An unusual couple approach Joe and Ratso in a diner and hand Joe a flyer, inviting him to a party. They enter a Warhol-esque party scene (with Warhol superstars in cameos). Joe smokes a joint, thinking it's a normal cigarette and, after taking a pill someone offered, begins to hallucinate. He leaves the party with a socialite (Brenda Vaccaro), who agrees to pay $20 for spending the night with him, but Joe cannot perform. They play Scribbage together, and Joe shows his limited academic prowess. She teasingly suggests that Joe may be gay, and he is suddenly able to perform. In the morning, the socialite sets up her friend as Joe's next customer, and it appears that his career is on its way. When Joe returns home, Ratso is bedridden and feverish. Ratso refuses medical help (because he has no money or health insurance) and begs Joe to put him on a bus to Florida. Desperate, Joe picks up a man in an amusement arcade (Barnard Hughes), and when things go wrong, robs the man when he tries to pay with a religious medallion instead of cash. With the cash he steals, Joe buys two bus tickets. On the journey, Ratso's frail physical condition further deteriorates. At a rest stop, Joe buys new clothing for Ratso and himself, discarding his cowboy outfit. As they near Miami, Joe talks of getting a regular job, only to realize Ratso has died. The driver tells Joe there is nothing else to do, but continue on to Miami. The film closes with Joe, alone and afraid, seated with his arm around his dead friend.