Two-Time Oscar?-Nominee Nick Nolte stars as Ray Cooke, a disheveled, grumpy high school umpire who forms an unlikely friendship with troubled teenager Dave Tibbel, after he catches him vandalizing his home. A straightforward exchange - if Dave repairs the damage, Ray won't call the cops - becomes an ever increasingly personal relationship and enables Dave to cope with his own distant father (Oscar?-Nominee Timothy Hutton). As the two grow more dependent on each other, Ray asks Dave to go to his 40th high school reunion and pretend to be his son, a benevolent act of deception that winds up opening unexpected dimensions in the two men.
Synopsis: When the growing divide between a troubled teen and his emotionally distant father finds the boy seeking the friendship of a disheveled and temperamental high-school umpire, the bond shared between the unlikely pair leads both to realize things about themselves that they never knew in an affecting coming-of-age tale.