Summary

Buffalo, New York. The dead of winter. Frank Falenczyk (Ben Kingsley) is in the family business as a hit man for the Polish mob. But his drinking problem is getting in the way of his work. He's the kind of guy who stores a bottle of vodka in the snow while shoveling the walk. When he blows a crucial assignment to knock off Edward O'Leary (Dennis Farina), the boss of the competing Irish gang, he's called on the carpet. Family patriarch, the no-nonsense Roman Krzeminski (Philip Baker Hall), sends him off to San Francisco to dry out and clean up his act. Or else. Frank doesn't like it, but he has no choice. His cousin Stef (Marcus Thomas) takes him to the airport. In San Francisco, a friend of the family, the sleazy real estate agent Dave (Bill Pullman) sets him up with an apartment and a job at a mortuary, then sends him on his way to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. At first, the baring of souls and sharing of feelings is too much for Frank and he runs out of the meeting. But Dave is watching him, so it's back to AA for Frank. With the help of his sponsor Tom (Luke Wilson), a toll-taker on the Golden Gate Bridge, gradually he gets the idea and tries to stop drinking. Back east, O'Leary is squeezing Roman, threatening to put him out of business and out of Buffalo. But things are looking up for Frank. He meets the tart-tongued Laurel (Téa Leoni) at the funeral home where he works. Frank is preparing her stepfather for the sweat hereafter and takes an instant liking to her when she bad-mouths the dead man. Eventually, he gets up the courage to call and ask her out. He's nervous because he's never gone on a date sober. His sponsor, Tom, isn't sure it's such a good idea and warns him that he might be rawer than he realizes with his newfound sobriety. So at dinner Frank promptly tells Laurel he's in AA and that he's unsure of himself. She finds his honesty refreshing. As long as he isn't gay, it's okay with her. Keeping up his bout of honesty, Frank meets Tom at the tollbooth and confesses that he kills people for a living. Drinking was interfering with his work so he's here to get sober so he can go back to killing people full time. Tom is taken aback, but as long as he doesn't do it for recreation, he figures it's okay with him. Things are getting worse in Buffalo and Stef calls to say that he's sending his wife and kids to Florida to stay out of harm's way. Frank wants to know if he should come home but Stef says he should be glad to be out of there. Laurel seems to like Frank. She finds out where he lives (she tells his boss she's from the AIDS clinic and has to get him test results) and turns up on his doorstep to invite him for dinner. Frank never makes it. Working at an Irish wake, he is urged to have to have a drink, and can't turn it down. So he has another, and another. Pretty soon, he's celebrating with the family of the deceased, while Laurel and her pet turtle wait for Frank to show up. Finally, in the middle of the night, he turns up drunk at Laurel's apartment and tells her what happened. And because he likes her, he also decides to tell her "everything you need to know." Well almost everything. Laurel and Tom are at an AA meeting and Frank gets up to speak for the first time. And then he spills it all. "I kill people for a living," he tells the group. Laurel's jaw drops as Frank explains the whys and wherefores of his profession. And the only way he's going to get back to work is if he stops drinking. The group's reaction is stunned acceptance. After the meeting, Laurel tries to digest it all. Why bother, she wonders. "Because you don't want to be alone any more than I do," Frank tells her. That sounds like a pretty good reason to her. So things move along in San Francisco while matters continue to go downhill in Buffalo. After a night at the bowling alley where Frank explains the need for precision in his work, it's back to his house where they sleep together for the first time. Laurel decides she likes older men because they're through experimenting. As for the drinking and the killing, well, "nobody's perfect," she says. Now that they've come to an understanding, and Frank is taking the AA teachings more seriously, he confesses all the botched jobs he did when he was drunk. He has to make amends for killings he's done badly. Much to Laurel's amusement and amazement, he sends a bunch of gift certificates to the families of people he's killed. A business opportunity knocks when Dave, the sleazy real estate man, proposes that Frank "negotiate" with a city supervisor. He wants to make a killing by getting the city to reverse its decision to demolish an old Victorian house. Laurel encourages Frank to use his talent and take the job, his first assignment since he's been sober. Frank shows up at the supervisor's office in his underwear and proves to be very persuasive when he pulls a gun. While Frank is getting work, his family in Buffalo is losing theirs. O'Leary's henchmen move in on the Polish business interests and rough up Stef in a bar. And just as everything is seemingly going great for Frank, Laurel decides that she needs some boundaries and gently puts the brakes on. Frank is caught off guard and turns to the bottle to help him cope. Back in Buffalo, O'Leary moves in for the kill, wiping out the family. Only Stef escapes. It's Frank's moment of truth. What should he do? After some soul searching, he heads for the airport, leaving Laurel behind. But not so fast. Laurel shows up at the airport demanding an explanation. Despite her protests, Frank says he's no good for her and gets on the plane. Frank is looking for revenge in Buffalo, but before he takes care of business he has to go to an AA meeting. O'Leary's men know he's back and come looking for him. Meanwhile, Laurel has also hopped on a plane and arrives in Buffalo. She intercepts O'Leary's hit man at the AA meeting just before he kills Frank. Coming to the rescue and saving Frank's life, she inadvertently becomes his partner in crime. All he has to do now is finish off O'Leary with newfound precision - which he does. Cut to a year later. Frank is not alone, and he's not in Buffalo. Laurel, Stef and Tom are with him in San Francisco -- celebrating his first year of sobriety and fresh starts all around.