Director Robert Altman's historical crime picture follows the exploits of Bowie, an escaped convict who becomes romantically involved with Keechie, a naive farmer's daughter. Bowie has broken out of a Mississippi prison farm with two other criminals--Chicamaw, who is part Indian, and T-Dub, an over-the-hill bank robber with a bad leg. The three take Keechie, whose father helped with their getaway, along with them. They embark on a crime spree, passing through a series of small Midwestern towns, until fate inevitably catches up with them.