It is mid-summer 1995 as a 1978 Mercedes zooms down the highway, heading west. Inside sit 14-year-old Ann August (Natalie Portman) and her mother Adele (Susan Sarandon). Against her will, Ann is being moved to Beverly Hills where Adele, stifled by small-town life in Bay City, Wisconsin, hopes to make her colorful dreams come true. Ann is furious at having to leave the life she loves. Adele is tired of defending herself against her daughter's longings for home and family, and feels that she's taking Ann away from a lifeless future and offering her an exciting new world.