In a Detroit, Michigan, bar, Clarence Worley extols the importance of Elvis Presley to a young woman and is turned down for a date to a Kung Fu film triple feature. Later, at the theater, Clarence meets Alabama Whitman when she spills popcorn on him and, afterwards, she takes him to a diner for pie. Clarence shows Alabama the comic book store where he works and they make love at his apartment. Awaking to find Alabama crying outside on a nearby billboard platform, Clarence learns that she is a call girl who was hired by his boss as a birthday gift. When Clarence says how much he enjoyed her company, Alabama confesses her love for him and promises never to lie again. The next morning, they get married and commemorate the occasion with matching tattoos. Alabama tells Clarence that during her four-day employment as a prostitute, her pimp, Drexl Spivey, was violent toward her friend and Clarence becomes incensed. Later, at a hotel room, Drexl gains control over a suitcase of cocaine by murdering the dealer. Clarence is visited by the ghost of Elvis Presley, who tells him to kill Drexl. At the brothel, Clarence provokes Drexl by saying he is Alabama’s husband and giving him an empty envelope as a “payoff.” When Drexl attacks Clarence and takes his wallet, discovering Clarence’s address on his driver’s license, he orders his associate, Marty, to collect Alabama. Clarence draws his gun, shoots Drexl in the groin and kills Marty. Demanding that a prostitute give him Alabama’s clothes in a suitcase, Clarence shoots Drexl again and returns home to tell Alabama the pimp is dead. As she cries, Alabama tells Clarence that his actions were romantic, and when she opens the suitcase, she finds cocaine instead of her clothes. Before leaving town the next morning, Clarence visits his father, security guard Clifford Worley, and asks for help. Clifford contacts friends from his career as a police officer and learns that Clarence is not a suspect and the murder is being investigated as drug-related. Clifford warns Clarence about Drexl’s drug lord associate Blue Lou Boyle and tells him that he loves him. Clarence gives Clifford the contact information for his friend, Dick Ritchie, who they will be staying with in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, in Hollywood, Dick auditions for a small part on a TV show starring William Shatner. As he drives west with Alabama, Clarence calls Dick and tells him his money problems will soon be over and Clarence and Alabama make love in the phone booth. Back in Detroit, Clifford is violently interrogated by Boyle’s counselor, Vincenzo “Vincent” Coccotti. Coccotti tells him that Clarence and Alabama killed Drexl and his associates to steal Boyle’s cocaine and Clarence left his driver’s license behind. When Clifford says he does not believe the story and doesn’t know where Clarence and Alabama went on their honeymoon, his hand is sliced with a knife and doused with alcohol. Clifford insults Coccotti by saying that Sicilians descend from Moor “niggers” and Coccotti shoots him dead while his associate discovers Dick’s address on Clifford’s refrigerator. Arriving in Los Angeles, Clarence and Alabama pick up Dick and check into the Safari Inn. Clarence assumes that since Dick is an actor, he will know how to unload the cocaine, but Dick is skeptical, even though Clarence is willing to sell at a reduced rate of $200,000. Dick offers his one connection to a wealthy Hollywood producer, Lee Donowitz. He arranges for Lee’s assistant, Elliot Blitzer, to meet Clarence at an amusement park. When Elliot asks about the source of the cocaine as they board a roller coaster, Clarence concocts a story about a corrupt police officer that stole the drugs from an evidence room. Sickened by the ride, Elliot calls Lee and passes the phone to Clarence, who convinces Lee to meet them. Meanwhile, Coccotti’s associate, Virgil, arrives at Dick’s apartment and learns from his marijuana-smoking roommate, Floyd, that they are staying at the Safari. When Clarence drops Alabama back at the motel and goes to get food, she finds Virgil in their room with a shotgun. He beats her to get information about the cocaine, but she refuses to give in. As Virgil discovers the suitcase under the bed and aims his gun at Alabama, she wields a Swiss Army Knife corkscrew and shoves it in his foot. After he retaliates, she sets fire to his face with hairspray and a lighter, then shoots him repeatedly with his own gun, and, after he dies, uses it to beat him. Arriving at the scene, Clarence grabs Alabama and the suitcase and races away from the motel. Meanwhile, Elliot is caught speeding in Lee’s Porsche after his escort spills cocaine on his face and is interrogated by the police. Eager to get credit for busting a Hollywood mogul, the two officers report to their chief that Elliot confessed the cocaine is being sold by a corrupt police officer and that he agreed to wear a wire at the meeting with Lee. At the airport, Clarence tends to Alabama's wounds and promises that after the deal they will have a better life in Mexico. Back at Dick’s apartment, as the team prepares for their meeting at the Beverly Ambassador Hotel, Dick finds out that he got the part on the television show. While Coccotti’s hit men load their guns, the police hook Elliot up with a wire in a Ambassador Hotel room and assure him that they will cover his back. After meeting Clarence, Alabama, and Dick in the lobby, Elliot leads them to an elevator, where Clarence threatens him with a gun and demands to know if they are being set up. As the police listen, Elliot cries and begs to be rescued, but Clarence does not understand to whom he is speaking and backs away, saying that he was just testing Elliot’s dependability. At the same time, the hit men show up at Dick’s apartment with guns drawn and Floyd directs them to the Ambassador. During the drug deal in Elliot’s suite, the cops wait with anticipation for enough evidence to instigate a bust, but Lee leads Clarence out of range of Elliot’s wire, and Elliot disturbs the connection by adjusting his groin. Finally convincing Lee to trust him, Clarence is given approval for the deal. Just before the police break into the room, Clarence goes to the bathroom, where he is again visited by a vision of Elvis Presley who compliments him on his smooth operation. When Lee's bodyguards refuse to surrender to the police, the hit men arrive. Elliot asks the officers if he can leave, revealing himself as a traitor, and as Lee throws coffee in Elliot’s face, the police shoot him and the room erupts into a gun battle. As Clarence leaves the bathroom, he is shot by an officer and Alabama crawls toward him. Dick throws the suitcase of cocaine into the air and it is hit by bullets, filling the room with powder. Dick escapes as the gunfire dies down, and the battle ends with a standoff between two officers and a hit man, who tricks them by giving up one gun and then shooting them with another. Meanwhile, another hit man holds a woman hostage in the hotel lobby as the police arrive. When Alabama kills the last surviving officer, Clarence regains consciousness. They grab the suitcase of cash and pass through the lobby undetected because the police are preoccupied with the hostage crisis. Clarence and Alabama escape to Mexico, where they raise their son, Elvis.