“[a] rich and textured film” – Roger Ebert

Cruz Montoya is a rock star on the West Coast poetry circuit. Just off the road from a tour, he gets an unexpected phone call alerting him that his father is fatally ill. Cruz rushes home to his dying father, a reclusive former schoolteacher still leading a traditional life in their mountain valley, now ravaged by poverty, drug abuse, and violence. But once home, Cruz is seduced by the fast action and easy money. He nearly loses his poetic voice, his identity, and almost his life before finding a way to heal his relationships with his family, his community, and himself.