The film centers on the strained marriage of Undine Jones, an actress, and John Goodman, a well-regarded composer. The story opens as the two are driving cross-country from New York to California to start over - hoping that the move will renew their relationship. Within weeks, Goodman is back in New York and Undine has begun work on a movie where she is drawn into an instinctively unavoidable relationship with one of the film's crew, Jim Travis. It is through Undine and Jim's connection that the film explores lust, love, intimacy, the past and forgiveness. Traylor's use of the California desert resonates with the search of her characters; in the most barren of landscapes, it finds wildflowers that bloom.