| Director | James Foley |
|---|---|
| Budget | $6.5 million |
| Box office | $2.3 million |
Brad Whitewood Sr. is a career criminal and leader of his family's gang of rural backwoods criminals. His son, Brad Whitewood Jr., a floundering, out-of-work teenager living in poverty with his mother Julie, grandmother, brother Tommy and mother's boyfriend Ernie, comes to stay with his father. Brad Jr. decides he wants to emulate his father, motivated by his flashy car and wads of $100 bills. At first, Jr. starts a gang with Tommy, fencing their stolen goods through Brad Sr.'s criminal network. Encouraged by his 16-year-old girlfriend, Terry, Brad Jr. seeks full entry into his father's gang but tries to back out after witnessing a murder. Eventually, Brad Jr's gang is arrested while stealing tractors, and the FBI and local law enforcement lean on him to get him to turn against his father.
During Brad Jr.'s time in jail, Brad Sr. becomes convinced that Terry is a risk to his activities, thinking that Brad Jr. may confide incriminating details to Terry. In an attempt to destroy her relationship with Brad Jr., Brad Sr. gets Terry drunk and stoned and rapes her. After a prison visit in which Terry, accompanied by Julie, has a conversation with Jr., it seems that he begins to cooperate with police. The members of Brad Jr.'s gang are subpoenaed, and Brad Sr. feels he needs to eliminate them. His gang kills Lucas, Aggie and Tommy. Brad Jr. and Terry plan to flee to Montana, but they're ambushed. Terry is killed, and Brad Jr. is seriously wounded. Brad Jr. confronts his father armed with his father's gun, intending to kill him, but decides instead to cooperate with police. Ultimately, he takes the witness stand in his father's trial.