Plot: In an upper middle class suburb of Detroit, the Wolfmeyer family is less one person: husband and father Grey has run off with his Swedish secretary to her homeland. Grey's wife, Terry Ann, is not coping well with her husband's abandonment of his family. She is prone to drinking and Grey's action has spurred her drinking to new heights. Terry is emotional - most of her emotions of late have tended toward anger - and with the addition of her drinking problems, she will often have outbursts, both appropriate and inappropriate. She has to manage her four teen and twenty-something daughters - Hadley, Emily, Andy and Popeye - who are all going through various issues in their own lives, many of their decisions not supported by their mother. In turn, the daughters on the most part support their mother against their father, despite how difficult with which she has been to live. Into their collective lives comes neighbor Denny Davies. In Terry, Denny sees a woman, a lonely person, a drinking buddy and a person with a real life, as opposed to what he calls his own life. An ex-baseball star, Denny lives selling autographed baseballs and hosting a radio baseball talk show in which he refuses to talk about baseball, a symbol of his past glory. Terry and Denny's relationship is turbulent but they feed off of each other's needs and insecurities.
Alternative Plot: After her husband runs off with his secretary, Terry Wolfmeyer (Joan Allen) is left to fend for herself -- and her four daughters (Keri Russell, Evan Rachel Wood, Erika Christensen, Alicia Witt). As she hits rock bottom, Terry finds a friend and drinking buddy in next-door neighbor Denny (Kevin Costner), a former baseball player. As the two grow closer, and her daughters increasingly rely on Denny, Terry starts to have reservations about where their relationship is headed.
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