Summary

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. -- John Lennon (1940-1980) Wound tight and cocky, Jimmy Starks (Guy Pearce) has plans, big plans. A smooth-talking salesman, he might be in flooring now, but he's got a surefire idea that'll take him through the roof -- selling restored jukeboxes to bars across the country. People will be lining up to throw money into 'em, right? Certain he's standing on the precipice of great fortune if only he can get financial backing, Jimmy is barreling down the road to success, when one by one things start to break down . . . starting with his car. Suddenly stranded in the middle of a remote New Mexican town, desolate as any in the Twilight Zone, Jimmy learns from a local mechanic he's not going anywhere until the problem is fixed. He's forced into limbo, and what better way to pass the time than by getting a reading from a roadside soothsayer (J.K. Simmons) who claims that for $10 he can step into his RV and right into Jimmy's future. Shelling out the cash, Jimmy starts off practical. Will his car eventually make it home? Will the New Mexico Wolves win their upcoming basketball game? The old man assures him that both are good bets. But since everyone knows the Wolves' star player is benched with an injury and the team doesn't have a prayer of winning, Jimmy grows more cynical by the minute. Still, he has nothing better to do, so he asks if there's a chance the financial backing for his jukeboxes will come through. Ahhh, that will require a deeper descent, replies the old man. It seems Jimmy's mind is so cluttered it will cost more money to penetrate it. Well, Jimmy is already the kind of guy who pretty much believes in no one but himself. As far as he's concerned, he makes his own destiny and the future is in no one's hands but his own. Still, the amusement is worth a few more bucks, so he puts his skepticism on the shelf, and fishes out the cash. Now, with grave sincerity, the old man takes Jimmy's hand and peers into the great beyond. Yes, he is clearly feeling good financial vibrations - a windfall by way of Dallas is on the way. But suddenly the mysterious seer lurches away, ripping his hand from Jimmy's grasp as though he just touched a red-hot branding iron. Startled, Jimmy demands to know what's going on. He offers more money, but the old man returns the original bills Jimmy gave him, saying no amount will make him talk. Bewildered, Jimmy leaves, more convinced than ever the whole thing is a scam. The next morning, back home in his comfortable track home in suburban Albuquerque, Jimmy is on the phone right after he wakes up, as always the slick-talking go-getter ready to roll, and speeding toward his future. He blows past his live-in girlfriend Deirdre (Piper Perabo), who has her sights on settling down with Jimmy on 10 acres in Taos. But he seduces her hopes for commitment away, and leaves her dreams in his wake as he flies out the door. He's gotta go play henchman for his boss, firing his young protégé Andy (Rick Gonzales) for doing just what he taught him -- skimming a little off the top. Now Andy's in his wake as well, as Jimmy drives off, cool as ever, never even taking his shades off to look Andy in the eye. Later, after a long day of schmoozing, Jimmy unwinds at the local bar with his best friend and co-salesman Ed (William Fichtner). As they gape at the TV screen, watching their beloved Wolves pull out unbelievable victory, Jimmy scoffs at the coincidence. The old man just got lucky, right? But when Jimmy's boss phones shortly thereafter to tell him the jukebox venture is a happening thing via funding from Dallas, Jimmy can't help but think the old man in the RV has some kind of crystal ball. Shaken, especially when a regular check up reveals a slight heart irregularity, Jimmy wonders if his future is in jeopardy. What exactly did the old man "see" when he reeled away from him with that scared look? Probably nothing, but after Jimmy starts getting hang up calls and finds a shooting range target in his mailbox, he's pretty spooked. He heads off like a man possessed to force the psychic - at gunpoint if necessary - to reveal his dark vision. "I saw no more roads, no more tomorrows," the old man finally whispers with the barrel of Jimmy's gun to his temple. "You don't have much time left . . . but you're safe until the first snow." Day by day, the weather rapidly turns colder, and as it does, Jimmy slowly becomes unwound. His paranoia drives away his girlfriend and threatens his performance at work. His mind becomes noisy with questions. If the old man is right, how's it going to happen? Would his irregular heartbeat fail him? Would Andy seek revenge? Maybe Vincent (Shea Whigham), a childhood friend he once betrayed to the feds, would get out of prison and hunt him down? As snow flurries begin to threaten the southwestern skies, Jimmy's past rapidly begins to collide with his present. He starts scrambling to make atonements, racing to find a road that will lead to a future, and he begins to answer a question we all have asked ourselves at one time or another: What would we do if we knew our future ... and would knowing be a blessing or a curse?