| Director | Paul Schrader |
|---|---|
| Genre | crime film, drama film |
| Runtime | 99 min |
| Country | United States |
| Budget | $5 million |
| Box office | $1.1 million |
John LeTour, a 40-year-old New Yorker, is one of two delivery men for Ann, who supplies an exclusive clientele in the banking and financing sector with drugs. While Ann contemplates switching to the cosmetics business, LeTour, who suffers from insomnia, has lost his perspective in life.
One night LeTour meets his ex-wife Marianne, with whom he once shared an intense but destructive relationship due to drug abuse. Although they stopped taking drugs, Marianne refuses his offer for a new start. After spending one night together, she tells him that this was her way of saying goodbye. Unbeknown to Marianne, her mother died at the hospital while she was with LeTour. The next time she meets LeTour, she attacks him, demanding that he get out of her life once and for all.
Meanwhile, the police start observing LeTour because one of his clients, Tis, is connected to the drug-induced death of a young woman. On his next delivery, LeTour witnesses a heavily drugged Marianne in Tis' apartment. Only minutes after his departure, she falls several stories to her death. LeTour gives the police a lead to Marianne's last whereabouts. At the wake, Marianne's sister Randi tells him not to feel guilty for what happened.
When Tis orders a new supply and insists that LeTour deliver it, he senses that Tis wants to dispose of him. Ann accompanies him to Tis's hotel but, when it becomes clear that a confrontation with Tis cannot be avoided, LeTour tells her to wait for him downstairs. Ann leaves, but raises an alarm in the outer hallway, distracting Tis's henchmen and allowing John to take the initiative. LeTour kills Tis and both of his henchmen in the subsequent shootout, and is superficially wounded. He lies down on the hotel bed, showing no anger or pain, only a profound weariness, as police sirens can be heard in the distance.
Ann visits LeTour in jail, where he expresses his hopes for a better future. The film hints at the possibility that Ann will wait for him.