A drifter gets a job at a roadside diner, where he worms his way into the affections of the owner's bored and unfulfilled wife - but when the pair immerse themselves in a passionate affair, the relationship brings ugly consequences in its wake. Remake of Tay Garnett's 1946 film noir based on the novel by James M Cain, starring Jack Nicholson, Jessica Lange, John Colicos, Anjelica Huston and Christopher Lloyd.