卡特（杰夫·布里奇斯 Jeff Bridges）和威尼是一对相当要好的朋友，两人平时以赌马、赛马为乐，威尼的女友萝丝（莎朗·斯通 Sharon Stone ）和卡特也彼此熟识，甚至在私下暗通款曲，只是他们都没让威尼知道真相。
之后，卡特和威尼有意在大赌一场后收山，便于一场相当高额的比赛中下注，暗中操盘以获取暴利；但是威尼却不知好友与女伴竟卷款而逃、双宿双飞，自己则被警方以诈欺罪名逮捕入狱。
侥幸逃过一劫的卡特和萝丝，在内心中都有著挣扎：他背叛了威尼，她也对不起威尼，然而两人却继续过著因巨款所带来的优渥生活。二十年后，威尼出狱，想到自己二十年前因那件案子而被迫失去一切；于是，他决定复仇，要求卡特和萝丝付出代价..........

A small-town nurse named Susette Kelo emerges as the reluctant leader of her working-class neighbors in their struggle to save their homes from political and corporate interests bent on seizing the land and handing it over to Pfizer Corporation. Susette's battle goes all the way to the US Supreme Court and the controversial 5-4 decision in Kelo vs. City of New London gave government officials the power to bulldoze a neighborhood for the benefit of a multibillion-dollar corporation. The decision outraged Americans across the political spectrum, and that passion fueled reforms that helped curb eminent domain abuse.

本片主要是围绕着主人公马克斯的历险展开。马克斯是个非常聪明的孩子，一次在跟妈妈吵架后，他赌气离家出走了。结果不料却中途迷了路，只能在一个神秘的森林里转来转去，森林的周围都被无边无际的海洋所包裹着，很多的惊险正在等待着他……