A young beautician, newly arrived in a small Louisiana town, finds work at the local salon, where a small group of women share a close bond of friendship and welcome her into the fold. Time passes, and the women and their friends encounter tragedy and good fortune, growing stronger and closer in the process.
The film follows Arthur Parker, a Depression-era sheet-music salesman with big dreams who seeks to escape his dreary life through popular music and a love affair with an innocent school teacher.
Recent college graduate Brantley Foster travels from his home in Kansas to New York City to pursue a new finance job. There he can’t get an executive position without rising through the ranks, so he comes up with a shortcut, which also benefits his love life.
Vinnie Antonelli (Steve Martin) trades the mob for the witness protection program and moves to a small suburb in California. An all too uptight FBI agent must protect Vinnie until he is sent to Federal Court to testify against mob kingpins.