Narrator (voice)
In 1974, 24 year-old Francis Wetherbee, a bank teller who is the subject of small-town envy and gossip, disappears from her hometown of Smithville, Texas two weeks after her fiance's bank is robbed. Her car is dredged from the bottom of a local river but it yields no clues. After a vigorous but futile search for the missing woman, the authorities give up, and Francis recedes into legend--until the case is revisited nearly 40 years later when key figures in her life come forward with theories and clues surrounding her disappearance. The film then morphs from documentary style to narrative as the odyssey of Francis' life unfolds for the audience and the truth is revealed.
Clara
AJ Manglehorn is an aging, ordinary guy in a small town. He nurses his sick cat, squeezes out a conversation with the local bank teller every Friday, and eats at the same place every day. But there is more to Manglehorn than meets the eye: he’s an ex-con who, 40 years ago, gave up the woman of his dreams for a big ‘job’. After a dramatic effort to start over, Manglehorn faces a terrifying moment and is unmasked as a guy with a very, very dark past.
Flight Attendant
The semi-autobiographical story centers on the complexities of love and commitment in a family torn apart when faced by an unexpected tragedy.
Mrs. Sloan
Two college students get a summer job on an offshore oil rig. They are soon approached by a co-worker who had earlier befriended them, and who now tries to draw them into a plot to murder the rig's crew chief.
Miss Robison
The story of Ronald Reagan's press secretary who was crippled in the 1981 assassination attempt on the president and who, with his wife, became the lightning rod for the gun control movement in the years since.
Woman at Felicia and Barton's Party
Rich L.A. party brat Tim spins into a cycle of despair after his parents divorce, and trying to fill the void with drugs and trouble only buys him a ticket to an asylum. But with the help of a psychiatrist who has taken an interest in him, will Tim try to pull himself out of the muck of teenage rebellion and ennui?
Teacher
A widow emerges from her mourning after a year. She moves into a new apartment, gets a new job, and a gains a 'gentleman caller,' her late husband's partner and former best friend. Her daughter opposes the relationship and causes considerable confusion. As she tries to work out her problems, she confides in a fellow worker. The friend offers her a shoulder to cry on and ultimately suggests that they have a relationship. Surprised and more confused than ever, she does find herself drawn to her friend.
