When Walter is diagnosed with lung cancer, despite his squeaky clean lifestyle, he has to tell his screenwriter partner, a chain-smoker. As Walter fights cancer he tries to put his affairs in order by teaching writing to prison inmates, talking to his son and ex-wife, and getting his partner to quit smoking.

The new DA of a small town is given the job of prosecuting the alleged murderer of a stripper. Unfortunately, his own father is in charge of the defense. To make matters worse, both attorneys are in love with the wife of the accused.

A Polish-Jewish family comes to the U.S. at the beginning of the twentieth century. There, the family and their children try to make themselves a better future in the so-called promised land.