Self-conscious drama with some strongly suggestive scenes of cruelty to animals. Walker Payne (Patric) is a divorced ex-con who's laid off from his mining job in rural Illinois in the late 1950s. Walker's hateful ex-wife Luanne (de Matteo) won't let him near his daughters until he hands over $5K so she can go to nursing school. His one potential asset is entering his faithful pit bull Brute in a backwoods dogfighting match.