Abandoned by his father at the age of five and raised in near isolation by a loving, yet emotionally unstable and over-protective mother, the only life Peel Munter has ever known is within the confines of his childhood home. Upon his mother's unexpected death, 30-year-old Peel is left lost and utterly alone. With no job, family, or friends, he must make a choice; live as his mother did, lonely and unsettled, or change the course of his impending fate by breaking out into the unknown, facing the trials and tribulations of an outside world he doesn't understand. Unable to make the house payments, Peel decides to take in a couple of drifters as roommates. After forging what seems to be a burgeoning new family and brotherhood, one of the roommates betrays Peel's trust, compelling Peel to venture out in search of his long-lost, real brothers who had been taken away from him decades ago. Along the way, Peel's lack of cynicism and innocence has an inadvertent, yet powerful effect on those he meets, as he brings a group of marginalized misfits closer to their true home.
八公（Forest 饰）是一条谜一样的犬，因为没有人知道它从哪里来。教授帕克（理查·基尔 Richard Gere 饰）在小镇的火车站拣到一只走失的小狗，冥冥中似乎注定小狗和帕克教授有着某种缘分，帕克一抱起这只小狗就再也放不下来，最终，帕克对小狗八公的疼爱感化了起初极力反对养狗的妻子卡特（琼·艾伦 Joan Allen 饰）。八公在帕克的呵护下慢慢长大，帕克上班时八公会一直把他送到车站，下班时八公也会早早便爬在车站等候，八公的忠诚让小镇的人家对它更加疼爱。有一天，八公在帕克要上班时表现异常，居然玩起了以往
