Plot
Michael Williams (Nicolas Cage) is a drifter living out of his car after being discharged from the Marine Corps. A job on an oilfield falls through due to his unwillingness to conceal a war injury on his job application, so Michael wanders into rural Red Rock, Wyoming, looking for other work.
A local bar owner named Wayne (J. T. Walsh) mistakes him for a hit man, "Lyle from Dallas," whom Wayne has hired to kill his wife. Wayne offers him a stack of cash--"half now, half later"—and Michael doesn't correct him, taking the money.
Michael then visits Wayne's wife, Suzanne (Lara Flynn Boyle), and attempts to warn her that her life is in danger instead of killing her. She makes a tempting counteroffer to him. Michael, knowing that the longer he stays in town the more dangerous it is, tries to leave but with no success.
The twists and turns in his attempts to leave Red Rock find him dodging bullets when "Lyle from Dallas" (Dennis Hopper) finally does show up. Michael knocks out Lyle, but complicates matters when he becomes romantically involved with Suzanne. The next morning, when Lyle comes to get money from Wayne, he kidnaps both Suzanne and Michael, gets Wayne out of jail, and finally ends up at the wrong end of a fight in a graveyard.
Read more about this topic: Red Rock West
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