Nat Parker (Christopher Walken) is one of a kind ingenious, inventive and just this side of crazy. He's also a clever con artist living in New Jersey with a hustle for every occasion who prides himself on living on $5 a day.
For Nat, life is good. His son Flynn (Alessandro Nivola) is quite another story. He’s at a dead-end job in LA and has been long been estranged from his father. To make matters worse, he's not having the best of days: first he loses his job, then his girlfriend Maggie (Amanda Peet) walks out on him, but not before informing him that the father he told her was dead just called to say he's dying.
With Maggie gone and no job to show up for, Flynn contemplates his next move. Chances are his dad is lying and called with some scheme to get his attention. But on the off chance that there's a shred of truth, Flynn decides to head east to find out the real story.
When Flynn arrives, Nat lays out the details of his plan. He needs Flynn to drive him to a place out west where Nat can undergo an experimental treatment as in free and maybe he'll live. To get there, Nat's got all of his usual tricks up his sleeve: free gas, free food and a free car in the form of a pink PT Cruiser with a paint job advertising Sweet 'N Low.
Along the way, they reunite with Flynn's old babysitter Dolores (Sharon Stone), who's as sexy as ever and has become quite the gifted hustler herself, and then they have a fateful run-in with Burt Kruger (Peter Coyote), Nat's nemesis.
As the miles pass and people come and go, they start to see each other through new eyes. With each event, they find out more about each other. Questions are answered, stories unravelled, emotions are healed, and the walls come tumbling down. But through it all, can Flynn finally forgive Nat for a lifetime of resentment?
Starring: Christopher Walken, Alessandro Nivola, Amanda Peet, Sharon Stone