A film adaption of the "East of the Mountains" novel by David Guterson, the story follows a retired heart surgeon and recent widower Ben Givens (Tom Skerritt), who has recently learned he has terminal cancer. Determined to end his life on his own terms, Ben leaves his daughter (Mira Sorvino) behind and sets off on a journey into Washington State's Columbia Basin, where the people he meets, and the events that unfold, compel him further into life even in the face of death.