**SPOILER ALERT** After a stay at the hospital recovering from an ankle injury Nat Banyon, Lucas Back,goes on the road hitch-hiking to Wyoming to open up an ostrich farm. At some truckers rest stop bar Nat gets beaten up when he grabs a patron's hand who may have mistakenly thought that he was trying to proposition him. In the confusion Nat get a hold of the patron's car keys, that he accidentally dropped, and takes off with his sports car.
Driving throughout the night Nat, struggling to say awake, spots an overturned car and saves the driver Herman Finch, Peter Coyote, just before his car was totaled by an oncoming truck. Finch very appreciative of what Nat did in saving his life gives the young man a job at his motel as an all-around handy-man. Later Finch get's Nat a car that he's to pay him back by the work he does at his place.
Nothing really seems to be right with the movie as we get a number of sub-plots that makes an attempt to explain just what Finch is involved with. Finch comes across at first as a good natured and friendly person who's more then grateful at what Nat did for him but. At the same time we, and Nat, get this very disturbing insight about Finch that he's a local mobster who's involved in a number of unsolved murders that he uses surrogates to do his dirty and criminal work. Later we get to see some of Finch's friends a used car dealer Walnut, Michael Ironside, and Native American Joe Littlefield, John Boncore, who's being groomed by Finch to take over the management of a casino that he runs. there's also Finch's very young and attractive wife Iris, Mia Maestro, who works at her husbands motel as a cleaning woman.
Very early in the movie we, and Nat, saw Finch get into a violent argument with Sal, Jason Cerboe, who later after being kicked out of a card game, between Finch Walnut and Littlefeet, disappears from sight and is found days later in the lake murdered. The same thing happens to local cop Newell, Brett Watson,who seemed to be on to Finch's sleazy activities and tried to warn Nat about him and his under the table dealings. Officer Newell is later found in the woods dead and decomposing with murder being the only reason for his sudden and untimely demise.
Finch himself is about as weird as can be in his relations with Nat by moronically trying to get Nat in tip top shape for a boxing match with him? Nat with rippling muscles and his boxing skills razor sharpen by the hard and rigorous training routine, that he was put under by Finch himself, as well as being some 30 to 40 years younger then the out of shape and cigar chomping Finch would kill the crazy old nut in the ring with one hand tied behind his back! Had Finch already lost his mind and now want's to lose his marbles with a solid left hook to the temple as well?
while were left in the dark to what exactly Finch is planning***MAJOR SPOILER*** we overlook what was the reason for Nat's interment in a medical facility and even more important is he fully recovered from the the illness or injury that he was there for?
The movie sets you up for a real shock that, in many ways, it leaves clues to get you ready for it. The big fight between Nat and Finch is done in all seriousness with Nat completely falling for Finch's line but what Finch is totally unaware of is that Nat is a bit, that may be understated, abnormal and also has some kind of weird attachment to him. This makes you wonder about the strange bar scene early in the film, that's slowly driving Nat off the deep end and into the deep dark and dangerous waters of his subconscious and unbalanced mind.
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