A son who's starting out. A mother who's starting over.

Goldie Hawn makes a change of pace in this downbeat drama about a mother' sacrifice for her family, and her son's attempts to save her from herself. When John Cross (Keith Carradine) returns home to Key West, Florida in 1969 after a tour of duty as a fighter pilot in Viet Nam, he's an emotionally shattered man; he begins drinking heavily and, in an desperate effort to find himself, abandons his wife Tracy (Goldie Hawn) and their 12-year-old son Chris (David Arnott) to live in a monastery, where he takes a vow of silence. Left with no means of support for herself or her son, Tracy takes a job as a bartender at a sleazy strip joint, but when she finds out how much more money the dancers are making, she reluctantly moves on to a career as a go-go girl. When Chris finds out about his mother's new job, he wants to rescue her from a shameful and humiliating (if profitable) career and stars taking odd jobs, including running fresh catch from a local fisherman to the restaurant in a resort hotel. However, Chris soon discovers that's he's actually being making cocaine drops, with the drugs hidden inside the fish; Chris makes the dangerous decision to steal the drugs and sell them himself. The supporting cast features Arliss Howard and Steve Buscemi.

Divorced mom Tracy Cross raises her 12-year-old son, Christopher, in Key West in 1969 around the time of the Apollo 11 moon landing. A waitress, she becomes a stripper to support herself and Chris.The film includes a scene where fourteen-year-old actor David Arnott appears nude (though shot from behind).
Chris is also working at part-time jobs to help pay the bills. He is upset when he finds out about his mother's new job. A man from a local seafood restaurant is involved in a drug-smuggling ring in which the drugs are hidden inside fish, so Chris goes to work for him to earn enough money so that his mother can quit her dancing job.
A stranger, Joe, comes to town and strikes up a relationship with Tracy. This further disturbs her son, who seeks out his father, John Cross, a military veteran so troubled from his Vietnam experiences that he is now a gardener in a monastery.
Joe turns out to be a law-enforcement undercover agent, working to bring down the drug ring. His relationship with Tracy and her son complicates matters as the time comes to make the arrest.

Release Date: May 8, 1992


Distrib: MGM/UA

Boxoffice: $3,052,738 2014: $6,142,300