After being severely injured
in a runaway horse accident,the family patriarch Bertram ( Charles Durning) lies in a
hospital bed plotting revenge against Mel, the four legged "enemy" he
blames for putting him there. So when his eldest daughter Kate (Jessica Lange) comes to
visit,the father has but one request "Shoot that horse!" By chance his alcoholic brother Dane (Donald Moffat) is in the same hospital drying out. Meanwhile back
at the house, Kate's mom (Ann Wedgeworth) is losing her grip on reality and Kate's
sister Rita (Tess Harper) has her own problems with a teenage daughter Jilly (Patricia Arquette) who has
recently discovered booze and boys. Between her ornery father,her fed
up sister, her wild niece and her spaced out mom, Minnesotan turned New
Yorker Kate is in for one helluva family visit!