Grace King Bichon (Julia Roberts) is married to Eddie. Grace is not very close to Eddie and the couple together are not very romantic. Every morning, they discuss the tasks on the "to-do" list for that day, like they are having a business meeting. Grace tends to be absent minded and sometimes would even forget to pick their daughter Caroline from home when she is supposed to be taking her. She helps out at her parent's horse farm during the day. Their daughter Caroline loves horses. Caroline wants to ride a horse during the upcoming Grand Prix, but her grandfather Wyly insists that she is still young and needs to ride a pony. Their stable manager Hank wants to ride the horse Ransom in the upcoming Grand Prix equestrian championship, but Grace's father Wyly plans to buy a stud named Ford for $150K (& ride it himself in the event) and not enter Ransom in it, as he doesn't have a good feeling about it. Grace is upset with the decision as Hank is likely to quit if he is not allowed to enter with Ransom in the competition. Wyly wants Hank and Ransom to wait another year for their chance at the trophy. Grace discovers (while driving Caroline back home from school) that her husband, Eddie (Dennis Quaid), is having an affair with another woman. Grace returns home to find a message on the machine from Eddie saying that he would be in a client meeting till late. By 11 PM, Grace loses all patience and takes Caroline with her to look for Eddie. They find Eddie's car outside a pub. Grace was still in her nightdress. After a wildly public confrontation with Eddie and his mistress, Grace packs up their daughter Caroline "Doodlebug" Bichon (Haley Aull) and returns home to her parents' Wyly King (Robert Duvall) & Georgia King (Gena Rowlands) horse farm to regroup. Grace stays with her sister Emma Rae, who has a separate cabin at the horse farm, different to where Wyly and Georgia stay. To her surprise and dismay, everyone around her is still mired in old fashioned ideals. Wyly admonishes Grace for going around publicly in her nightdress, with Caroline in the car, bringing shame to the family. Georgia exclaims that Eddie slipped and that can happen in the happiest of marriages. Wyly also says that they are involved in a real estate deal with Eddie and his dad and cannot afford to antagonize him. Wyly wants Grace to make up with Eddie, but she refuses flatly. Wyly says that Eddie is a caring father and a good provide and that is hard to come by. Grace, usually submissive around her father, finally gets the courage to stand up to her father. Grace also doesn't allow Eddie to meet Caroline, as she says that she had kept her with Aunt Rae (Anne Shropshire), who hates Eddie to begin with. Her sister, Emma Rae (Kyra Sedgwick), who is furious at Eddie and lets him know it, is also unwilling to let Grace pretend this has come out of nowhere (Eddie was known as the Hound Dog back in college and Grace knew it), or that she did not make choices that led to her current predicament. Grace tries to convince Hank to stay back, but he is determined to leave once the event is over. Meanwhile Wyly starts to practice with Ford but is not able to get a good control of the horse. The trainer of Ford, named Jamie (Brett Cullen), feels that Wyly is controlling it too much and not letting it do its thing. Jamie tells Grace that Wyly needs to trust the horse as the horse knows what it is doing. Grace attends a society ladies meeting and learns that Eddie had sex with another friend of hers. Grace starts to reveal everyone's hidden secrets about how they all cheated with each other's spouses. Jamie has gone through a divorce himself, and Grace starts to like him. Emma encourages her to date him. Eddie, too, confronts Grace about her withdrawal from their life, and his feelings of abandonment after what started out as an affectionate, loving marriage. Eddie says that he never thought Grace would say yes to his marriage proposal. On the advice of a meddlesome neighbor, Grace invites Eddie for a dinner and serves him fish with a low intensity poisoned sauce. Just as Grace starts to understand Eddie's point that Grace stopped wanting Eddie after Caroline was born, the poison makes Eddie sick and Grace rushes him to the hospital. Georgia confronts Grace about her life falling apart but Grace pushes back saying that Georgia never did anything when Wyly cheated on her with Anne-Pritchett, many years ago. Georgia is hurt, she goes back home and locks Wyly out of the house. Eddie decides to file for divorce through his lawyer Jack. Jack encourages Eddie to fight dirty and instead he decides to back off. Emme and Grace head to a bar and get hammered. Emma leaves with a guy and Jamie offers to drop Grace back home. Grace agrees to a nightcap with Jamie. Grace agrees to have sex with Jamie but can't as she keeps picturing Eddie. Jamie accepts that Grace is not yet ready to move on from Eddie. At the equestrian event, Caroline performs on her pony Possum. She wins her category. Grace ignores Wyly and enter Hank and Ransom into the competition against Wyly and Ford. Grace also quits her father's farm and decides to complete her vet studies. Hank makes a perfect run with Ransom, but Wyly drops a bar and comes 3rd, while Hank wins. Wyly is gracious in defeat and Georgia forgives him and they reconcile. Wyly agrees to have Jamie ride Ford the following year. Grace hears that Eddie met a mean divorce lawyer and is alarmed. Grace confronts Eddie at the celebration dinner, and Eddie responds by sharing a lively dance with Grace. Eddie reconciles with Grace, but she says she wants to become someone that she herself is proud of and that she doesn't want to blow this chance away. Grace enrolls in college and starts dating Eddie again.
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