A college freshman returns to Los Angeles for the holidays at his ex-girlfriend’s request, but discovers that his former best friend has an out-of-control drug habit.

Henry Manning (Paul Newman) has come up with a new way to break out of prison: fake a stroke and get transferred to a nursing home. It’s a perfect plan, except for one thing: the woman assigned to take care of him at the nursing home, Carol Ann McKay (Linda Fiorentino), has a plan of her own.