Ex-boxer [Jason Patric] plays Kevin "Kid" Collins, a drifter and an escapee from a mental hospital. In a desert town near Palm Springs he encounters widow Rachel Ward Fay Anderson, who convinces him to help fix up the neglected estate her husband left behind and lets him sleep in a trailer out back, among the fading date palms. Collins settles onto Fay's property, repairing what he can and sleeping among the trees as memories from his boxing days and his time behind the hospital walls drift through his mind. The scene is painted with Fay’s shifting moods—she drinks heavily and moves between warmth and cruelty—making her feel both dependent on Collins and resentful of him at the same time.
Her acquaintance Garrett "Uncle Bud" Stoker, a man who claims to be an ex-cop, gradually pulls Collins into a kidnapping plan involving Corey Carrier as Charlie Vanderventer, the sickly son of a wealthy family. Collins wavers, wanting to walk away, but his longing to be needed and valued keeps drawing him back into the scheme.
During this uneasy arrangement, Collins meets Doc Goldman, a physician who immediately recognizes the fragility of his mental state and urges him to return to institutional care. Doc offers a shield of protection and some stability, yet his well-meaning involvement feels controlling and intrusive, threatening the delicate bond Collins has with Fay. The tension between Doc’s paternal concern and Uncle Bud’s promises of money and purpose deepens the conflict, and Collins struggles to navigate a path that might keep him safe while still serving a purpose.
The kidnapping plan moves forward, but it starts to unravel from the start. Collins intentionally takes the wrong child at first, then ultimately abducts Charlie, who, being diabetic, becomes dangerously ill without insulin. Collins insists the boy must stay alive, while Uncle Bud begins to treat Charlie as a problem to be managed rather than a child to be protected.
As pressure mounts, Uncle Bud reveals himself as manipulative and ruthless, willing to sacrifice Collins to safeguard his own interests and to cash in on the reward money by playing the hero. Fay vacillates between guilt, fear, and self-interest, occasionally seeming to side with Uncle Bud. Isolated and increasingly aware that he is being used, Collins asserts some control over the situation. He steals insulin to save Charlie, confronts Uncle Bud, and prevents him from killing either the boy or himself. In the ensuing struggle, Doc Goldman is killed, and Collins understands that every possible path forward carries a heavy price.
In the final stretch, Collins drives toward a grim end, pursued by the law and cut off from any future with Fay. He returns Charlie safely and ensures Fay won’t be blamed, even if it means condemning himself. Surrounded at an airport, Collins is identified as the kidnapper and shot while attempting to escape. His final act is calm and deliberate: he accepts his end as the only way to give meaning to his life, protect the child, and leave Fay free to continue living, even if she never fully grasps what he did for her.
