Chuck “Tiger” Warsaw returns to his hometown of Sharon, Pennsylvania, and drives past his parents’s house, but is too scared to go inside. Fifteen years ago while under the influence of drugs, Chuck was caught by his father, Mitchell, stealing and spying on his sister, Paula, changing her clothes in her bedroom. After holding his family hostage for two hours, Chuck shot his father with a gun. Chuck runs into Tony, his friend from high school. Tony tells him about rumors that Chuck travelled abroad and dealt drugs, but Chuck tells Tony he was mostly in Florida. Chuck insists he is now sober, and asks about his father. Mitchell is alive, Tony responds, but he has not been the same since the shooting. Chuck is relieved that he has a chance to make amends with his family, particularly before Paula’s upcoming wedding. However, Tony informs Chuck that the Warsaws pretend that he no longer exists. Karen, another former friend from high school, recognizes Chuck and asks him to visit her later. Meanwhile, Tony tells Val, his pregnant wife, that he saw Chuck. Val, Paula Warsaw’s close friend, demands that Tony never see Chuck again. Later, Val telephones while Paula and her fiancé Roger are having dinner with her parents. Upon hearing the news, Paula is determined to find a way to keep Chuck away from the family. In the evening, Chuck surprises his mother, Frances Warsaw, in the backyard. Though happy to see her son, Frances tells Chuck to leave before Mitchell sees him. Afterward, Frances hides from Mitchell as she looks through old photographs of Chuck she hid away. When Chuck visits Karen, he learns she is divorced with two young children, Robin and Emily. Karen says that she always cared for Chuck and still does. Telling Karen he cares for her as well, Chuck and Karen make love. Afterward, he tells Karen that he, too, has a young son, but while high on drugs, he signed away his parental rights, and the boy’s mother moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and married another man. The next day, Paula Warsaw tells her mother never to see Chuck again. Reluctantly, Frances agrees, believing that if Mitchell saw Chuck, he would not react well. Meanwhile, Chuck goes to the police department and learns from Lieutenant Fontana that Paula has placed a restraining order on him to stay away from Mitchell. Upset, Chuck drives out of town, but when he thinks about Karen and her children, he returns. Wanting to turn his life around, Chuck gets a job as a bagger at the local grocery store. Later, he telephones his sister’s real estate office and hears she will be showing a mansion in the afternoon. Arriving at the mansion, Chuck tells his sister he never meant to hurt her or anyone else, but Paula does not believe him. Later, Karen tells Chuck that their high school is having a class reunion, but she does not want to go. However, Chuck convinces her they could have fun if they attended. At the reunion, the arrival of Chuck and Karen upsets Paula. When Roger and Paula’s friend Val asks Chuck to leave, he refuses. Roger pushes Chuck into the pregnant Val and they both fall to the floor. Tony believes Chuck pushed Val and orders him to stay away from him and his wife. Later, while Mitchell is at the high school basketball game, Chuck visits his mother. Forgiving her son, Frances asks Chuck all about his life since leaving. Suddenly, Paula arrives. As Frances distracts her daughter, Chuck sneaks out and goes to work. At the basketball game, Mitchell overhears two men talking about Chuck at the snack bar. Wanting to seek vengeance on his son, Mitchell goes to a sporting goods store and purchases a rifle. Paula and Roger meet her Uncle Gene and Aunt Barbara visiting for the wedding. After telling them that Chuck has returned, Gene hires two bikers to scare Chuck out of town. Meanwhile, Frances wants her family to reunite, and telephones Chuck to come home. When Chuck arrives, Mitchell aims his rifle at Chuck. However, Paula arrives and stops Mitchell. Looking closely at Chuck, Mitchell pretends not to recognize Chuck, and declares that his son must be dead. Upset, Chuck gives up seeking his family’s forgiveness. Packing his belongings, he tells Karen he loves her, but feels he needs to go to St. Louis for his son. A week later, Chuck is unable to bring himself to see his son. Instead, he starts drinking and purchases a large number of pills. However, when he returns to his motel, Chuck throws the pills away. Meanwhile, Paula and Roger have their rehearsal dinner. As Frances gives her toast, she thinks she sees Chuck, but then realizes it is Tony. Out of her disappointment, Frances turns her toast into a eulogy for her son, Chuck “Tiger” Warsaw, who is truly dead to the family. Affected by Frances’s words, Mitchell calls Karen to ask where Chuck is staying. Arriving in St. Louis, Mitchell finds his son. After they embrace, Mitchell and Chuck ask one another for forgiveness. Catching an airplane to Pennsylvania, father and son arrive in time for Paula’s wedding.