Gambler Bobby Cooper (Sean Penn) is en route to Las Vegas to pay off a debt when his car breaks down in the town of Superior, Arizona. Forced to hang around for several hours while the vehicle is fixed, Bobby meets first the seductive Grace McKenna (Jennifer Lopez), then her brutal, older husband, Jake (Nick Nolte). Jake offers to split the insurance on Grace's life with Bobby if he murders her, and although Bobby initially refuses, he is inexorably sucked into a game of cross and double-cross between the couple.