1930's Hollywood is reevaluated through the eyes of scathing social critic and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he races to finish the screenplay of Citizen Kane (1941).

Charismatic rancher Phil Burbank inspires fear and awe in those around him. When his brother brings home a new wife and her son, Phil torments them until he finds himself exposed to the possibility of love.

Alcoholic Calvin cons his way into a job tending the grounds of a hillside mansion owned by the reclusive Jack. On the night Calvin stumbles into a bathroom to see Jack with a gun to his head, an unlikely friendship is born.