It's a hot summer in Alabama, 1965. Throughout the Deep South, the climate is similarly boiling over for racial equality and justice. A young, backwoods boy called Peejoe, short for Peter Joseph (Lucas Black), is the lone witness in the murder of an innocent black youth by a bigoted and corrupt white sheriff (Meat Loaf Aday). Peejoe tries to deal with his dark secret while his liberated, but eccentric Aunt Lucille (Melanie Griffith) aids in his quest for the truth. As their two lives are intertwined, Lucille ends 13 years of an abusive marriage (by taking action against her suddenly "missing" husband) and takes off for Hollywood to pursue her dreams of TV stardom. In the midst of her journey to assert her independence, Lucille becomes an unlikely mentor for her nephew, who's about to get a fast education in grown-up matters like personal freedom, women's rights and racial prejudice.