- Drifter, Jack, pays a visit to an old friend Frank whose mundane life is upended after the two become involved in a strange and seemingly random murder and journey up to the Northern California Sierra in order to bury the body.
- When Phd dropout Frank (Laurence Fuller) catches his girlfriend with his boss, his drifter of an old best friend, Jack (Micah Parker) arrives in town and arranges a strange and beautiful lady of the night, Ruby (Rosalie McIntire), for him. But amidst the heat of the moment, the pair are attacked, leaving Ruby dead and Frank unconscious. Drunk and panicked, Frank calls Jack who convinces him to head up North to take a new job and bury the body. Thus the pair embark on a strange and cerebral journey up into the California Sierra, full of old friends, lost loves, eccentric in-laws, backwood pimps, and a suspicious Military veteran, all while discovering how exactly Ruby was connected to Jack.
- Jack appears to be homeless. He looks like Peter Dinklage but taller. He carries all his possessions around with him, hitchhikes, works when he has to, and seems to stay with a group of people when he is in their area. We find out later he lost a job and he might have investments.
Frank is told by his boss Tom that he is to run one of the company's other offices, which means he'll have to move. The current location and the new location both seem to be somewhere in California, based on later references to Sacramento and Eureka. Frank is reluctant to do this, but he goes home to tell his girlfriend, who is getting ready for Tom's birthday party. She seems to know more about what is going on in Tom's life than Frank does. In fact, Frank's girlfriend is cheating with Tom. By the way, Frank is kind of a loser who looks like Conan O'Brien but a little shorter.
Jack calls Frank and asks Frank to pick him up. They go to the party and after a terrible discovery, Frank goes to a bar and drinks and picks up a gorgeous woman, Ruby, whose skirt is too short.
Frank wakes up nearly naked, or at least the viewer is supposed to think he wakes up. And there's a dead body in his trunk. What to do?
Frank thinks they need to dispose of the body. And not in the immediate area. Given Frank's new job situation, perhaps they can go where he is moving to.
They do make one stop, probably at the house where Jack stayed early in the movie. The landlord is very demanding and hates freeloaders and liberals.
There is one other possibility. Chris is an old friend of both men who is marrying Trudy. This is important. Chris looks like Rob Reiner when he was Meathead and Trudy is not that pretty and normal weight. Chris has a really good job despite his appearance and he has been tempted by a beautiful female attorney at work. Trudy's parents have given Chris the keys to their cabin near Tahoe which was inherited from another relative.
The guys can take those keys without Chris knowing, go to the cabin, and dispose of the body.
As one might expect, there are complications. A neighbor Dale shows up and starts asking too many questions. He seems like a cop. He wasn't pleased that they "borrowed" his shovel for their plan. And they lied about what they were doing. Dale asked questions in a way showing that he was trying to catch them lying. Still, he invites them over for stew and "home brew". He tells them how he was a chaplain in the military. He even has his uniform on. It was covered up at first. Why is he wearing the uniform? He wants to commit suicide while wearing it.
Also, the reason for the movie's title is revealed. Dale tells a story about a man who is running from a monster and falls into a well. A dragon is at the bottom of the well, but the man is able to hold on to a twig. What does he do? This sounds a lot like the fix our heroes are in.
Dale knows too much, and he too has to be killed and buried.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content