Doug Riley (James Gandolfini) has been married to Lois (Melissa Leo) for 30 years, and their relationship has come to a standstill. He is an Indiana plumbing supply salesman and she is afflicted with agoraphobia. Neither of them has been able to recover from the death of their teenage daughter eight years ago, and grief and sadness have solidified into a wall isolating them from each other.

Doug leaves housebound Lois behind and heads off for a convention in New Orleans. Yearning for escape, he goes into a strip bar and meets Mallory (Kristen Stewart) who bears an uncanny resemblance to his daughter. Despite her persistent pleas to have sex with him, puritanical Doug refuses and, when he sees her again in a restaurant, he offers to pay her $100 a day to stay at her dilapidated apartment. Short of money and surprised by this piece of good fortune, Mallory accepts the arrangement. Doug fixes up the place and seriously wants to be Mallory's surrogate father. She can't believe him when he tells her that he will fine her every time she uses the F-word. This illustrates what very different worlds they each live in.

Jake Scott directs this character-driven plot, with a screenplay by Ken Hixon. The meeting between Mallory, the underage stripper, and Doug, the middle-aged Puritan is animated by his need to parent and look after her. When he tells Lois that he will not be coming home for a while, she makes a courageous decision to break out of her house and drive to New Orleans. After finding out what has happened, she joins Doug in his mission of mercy.

Writer and spiritual teacher Natalie Goldberg has written: "Trust in what you love, continue to do it, and it will take you where you need to go." Doing just that — seeking to help Mallory — this couple discovers a way back to their own love for each other.


Special features on the DVD include a featurette "Creating the Rileys."