Plot: Despite beating to her own drummer, Evie Decker, who still lives with her ailing father and their loyal housekeeper, believes she has no control over her sad life in the former side of what she considers the dead end town of Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, where she was born and raised, and also believing that no one would notice if she was gone, briefly contemplates suicide. She changes her mind when she hears an interview on the radio with local up and coming musician Bertram "Drumstrings" Casey, he residing on the Varina side of town and who echoes much of what she is feeling, and thus who she believes is speaking directly to her. Evie's infatuation with Drum is only strengthened when she goes to see him perform at a local club. Impromptu, Evie does something that she believes is the first time she has taken control of her life and that will inextricably link her to Drum, albeit in literally a backward way. Drum's manager and drummer, David Elliot, wants to capitalize on Evie's actions as publicity for Drum and his own benefit, while Drum himself has a more negative reaction to Evie beyond agreeing to David's initial one time only push for that publicity. But as Evie and Drum's lives become more intertwined, Drum begins to believe that Evie is an integral part of his life for good and bad. In Evie and Drum spending time together, the question becomes whether both Evie and Drum will get out of it what each wants, that relationship which ebbs and flows in its nature.
Alternative Plot: "Drumstrings" Casey (Guy Pearce) is an aspiring rock musician, though he hasn't had much success so far. Evie Decker (Lili Taylor) is likewise searching for direction and meaning. She works at an amusement park by day and at night bides her time alongside her troubled father. Between the two, Evie might be the more emotionally disturbed, as evidenced by how obsessed she becomes with Casey -- going so far as to carve his name across her forehead. They get married, but can their love last?
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