1962年,Curt Henderson(理查德·德莱弗斯 Richard Dreyfuss 饰)、Steve Bolander(朗·霍华德 Ron Howard 饰)、John Milner(保罗·勒马特 Paul Le Mat 饰)还有Terry The Toad Fields(查尔斯·马丁·史密斯 Charles Martin Smith 饰)四个普通的青年在晚上相聚,为即将去外地读大学的Curt和Steve送别。Steve把他的汽车借给了Toad,Toad需要这辆车去寻找他的爱情。Curt开车在马路上,听到一个金发女郎对他说“I love you!”,他急切想找到这个女人,却在路上让另一个女孩上了他的汽车。而Steve也在忙着处理和女友Laurie(辛迪·威廉姆斯 Cindy Williams饰)的关系。John 则准备和另一个人赛车。Toad则认识了另一个美女Debbie(坎迪·克拉克 Candy Clark 饰),两人把车开到了郊外,却意外把车给丢了......在这个夜里,这四个青年的活动为我们展现了六十年代初美国人的精神和生活状态。 本片被提名当年奥斯卡最佳影片,最佳导演和最佳女配角等几个奖项。
At Christine's funeral, her foster son suddenly shows up, a grown-up man with whom the family has been out of contact for quite some time. He brought a letter, stating that Christine wants to be buried in Wentelen, to the bewilderment of her biological children, and even more so to that of her husband. In addition to that, all the relatives are surprised that the foster son of Christine apparently maintained a correspondence with Christine. Nevertheless, Christine's last wish is respected, and they decided to bury her in Wentelen, and wish to do so traditionally, meaning walking behind the hearse. During a walk of several days, all the relatives (foster sisters, foster father, alleged friends and real ones, the foster son, lovers) have enough time to get to know each other better. Because in the end they have no other conclusion than that nobody really knew anyone. Old intrigues are dug up, the foster sisters finally learn why the foster brother just disappeared from the family, and they can begin to develop a real image of the mother. Once Christine's final resting place is reached and she is buried, all family ties, good and bad, are shaken around.