SYNOPSIS

Annie Eason (Betty White), whose youthful attitude belies her 69 years, sits in the backyard of her beautiful home, which has obviously seen better days. A talented artist, Annie holds a paintbrush and stares at the canvas before her – a landscape of how her property used to look. She picks up an urn and speaks to her deceased husband, Elliot. “I guess I’ve really let this place go, haven’t I?”

At the Eason Building Corporation, Richard Eason (Richard Thomas), Annie’s widowed son, brusquely greets receptionist Brenda Trager (Diane Robin) and heads straight for his office where Jack Backus (Robert F. Lyons), a hard-edged banker, is waiting. Backus expresses grave concerns over whether Richard is up to the task of fulfilling the Patterson Hospital project – a project Richard’s father, Elliot, was helming.

In the middle of the meeting, Richard is interrupted by Brenda, who informs him that his mother – who has called three times already – is on the phone. Richard reluctantly takes the call. Annie asks him to help her find her old easel in the attic. Richard says he’s busy.

Ella Eason (Amy Davidson) sits under a tree on a college campus and strums her guitar, singing a few bars and writing down a few lines in a notebook. When three male students stop to listen, she freezes. Just then her cell phone rings. Annie asks Ella to help her with the easel. “Your father said he was too busy to come and get it.” “He’s always too busy,” Ella says, glumly. Annie can sense that something is troubling Ella. “Your mother would be so proud of you,” she says. “But there’s no one keeping you there. You can do whatever you want. The world is open to all of your dreams.” “Whatever that means,” Ella replies.

Richard shows up at Annie’s house. She’s in the attic trying to retrieve her easel. “Step off the ladder before you get hurt,” Richard insists. “I’ll get it.” Annie shows Richard a painting of Annie’s Point – a sprawling bluff overlooking the crashing waves of the ocean. “I always meant to finish this one,” she says. Richard barely looks at it.

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Richard, noting the yard’s neglect and his mother’s recent absent-mindedness, tries to convince Annie to move into an apartment or condo. “Your father has been dead for only six months and you’re jumping to sell off his house,” Annie protests. “It’s just not practical,” Richard replies.

Ella musters her courage and shows up at a coffee house intending to sing. But when she’s introduced to the audience, she gets a bad case of stage fright and bolts off the stage.

Annie confides in her friend Louise (Ellen Albertini Dow) that she found her unfinished painting of Annie’s Point – the place where she and Elliot planned to build their dream house. “I sat in that hospital with Elliot for months. And just minutes before he went, he told me his one wish – to set him free at Annie’s Point on our 50th anniversary.” Louise encourages Annie to fulfill her promise. Annie protests that it’s too far and, besides, Richard would never approve. “What’s Richard got to do with this?” her friend asks.

Ella visits Annie and tells her that she’s quit college. “I thought that Mom would have wanted me to go. I really tried. But there’s nothing there for me.” Ella is hoping that Annie will break the news to Richard. “We barely know each other,” Ella says. “I don’t know how to talk to him anymore.” “You know I’d do anything for you, but I can’t do this,” her grandmother replies.

Ella tells Richard that she’s dropping out of college to pursue a song writing career. “Where did this come from?,” Richard asks. “I never even heard you sing a note.” Having already paid her tuition, he pleads with her to at least finish out the year. “You don’t want to throw away your future to follow some fantasy.” “I knew you wouldn’t understand,” Ella cries. “You don’t care about how I feel. All you care about is this stupid company!” She storms out.

Richard complains to Annie that he spends half the day keeping her house in check and the other half fighting with his daughter, “which leaves very little time to keep Dad’s company afloat.” Annie pleads with him to take a good look at Ella. “She’s a very unhappy girl … But she has real talent. Let her see if she can do something with it.”

Annie tells Ella that her life has been far from perfect. Annie shows her a photo of her brother Doug. “I haven’t spoken to him in 30 years. How’s that for perfect?”

Annie’s physician, Dr. Meldon (Karl T. Wright) tells Annie that she needs heart bypass surgery or she could die. He puts her on a different blood pressure medication and recommends that she not drive unaccompanied.

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Annie doesn’t tell Richard anything about her need for heart surgery. She wants to put it off until she’s been to Annie’s Point. She asks Richard to drive her, but he refuses. “I have too much going on at work.” Suddenly, a dish towel catches fire near the stove, Richard jumps up to extinguish it. “What if I wasn’t here? What would you have done? You can’t stay alone here any longer.” Annie begrudgingly agrees to move into “that place” on the condition that Richard, Ella and Annie all drive to Annie’s Point together. “Whatever you say, Mom.”

Ella makes an effort to connect with her father but their conversation is interrupted by a phone call from Backus.

Annie shows Louise a map of the United States. “I’ve mapped out how to get there and to stop off at a few places that have sentimental significance to Elliot and me.”

Richard puts Annie’s easel and painting into her trunk and closes it. Annie sits in the driver’s seat, Ella next to her. Richard, who has a business appointment, can’t accompany them to the “home.” But he promises to stop by that night to get Annie settled.

Ella tells Annie that she should have turned right to get to the retirement home. “I probably should have told your father, but I’m not moving in there,” Annie replies. “I’m going to California and I need you to come with me.” Ella protests. Annie responds, “You want to be a songwriter, you need something to write about. Let’s live a llittle.”

Ella holds a painting of Annie’s depicting a tree-lined driveway that winds to a small single-story house. Annie drives right to the place, the home she and Elliot built after moving from California. The trees are no longer there.

Margaret Hogan (Rebecca Lowman) – a sweet, middle-class mother of two – answers the door. Annie explains why she and Ella are there. “My husband and I left something behind the nook in the kitchen. Would it be all right to see if it is still there?” Margaret lets them in. Annie goes right to the kitchen, carefully removes the nook and pulls out a purple, velvety bag. She dusts it off, opens it up, and drops a 1919 gold liberty coin into her hand. “This was given to your grandfather by his father,” Annie explains to Ella. “He said to hide it someplace in our first home and it would bring us a lifetime of happiness.”

When she and Ella leave, Annie presents Margaret with the painting of the house. Margaret is deeply touched. Then Annie reaches into her purse and hands Margaret five hundred dollars. Margaret protests, but accepts the money when Annie tells her, “It would mean a great deal to me if you could use some of this money to plant some new trees.”

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Back in the car, Ella expresses skepticism that Margaret will actually use the money to plant the trees. “Your grandfather would want the house to look like it did when we were younger. Besides, it makes you feel good to do things for other people.” Annie says.

Richard discovers that Annie never arrived at the retirement home. He goes to her house and sees his mother’s forgotten map on the kitchen table. The phone rings. Dr. Meldon’s nurse is calling to schedule Annie’s surgery. “Surgery?,” Richard asks. “What surgery?”

At a truck stop diner, Annie embarrasses Ella into singing a few lines of the song she’s writing. The truckers respond appreciatively. Ella’s cell phone rings. It’s Richard. Annie answers and refuses to tell him where they are. “When are you coming back?,” he asks. “We’re not,” Annie replies.

When Annie tries to get cash from an ATM, her card is rejected. When she tries to use her credit card, it’s declined. Annie calls Richard and chastises him for sabotaging her trip. “Are you at least taking your medication?,” Richard asks. “If you were so worried about me you wouldn’t have left me penniless.” “At least tell me where you are and I’ll wire you some money.” “Nice try.”

Richard sets out to find his mother and daughter. As he departs, he’s again confronted by Backus, who warns him that “Eason’s line of credit is what we call in the banking business ‘guarded.’” Richard says they will have to reschedule their meeting, since he is going out of town.

Penniless and hungry, Annie concocts a scheme to make some money. She insists that Ella escort her to a local Arts & Crafts fair where she’ll pretend to be a blind caricature artist. The scam works and they make enough money to rent a hotel room and have a good meal.

Feeling more and more adventurous, Ella goes along with Annie’s plan to sneak into the local country club and join her in a skinny dip. Once in the pool, Annie tells Ella the story of her 30-year rift with her brother, Doug. Annie was his caregiver after their parents died. Doug had difficulty dealing with the loss and started getting into trouble.

“One night he got caught shoplifting and was arrested. I thought he should spend a night in jail … to teach him a lesson. When we got him out, he was awfully mad at me. We got into a huge argument, said some things I’m sure we both have regretted our whole lives. I haven’t heard from him since.”

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Suddenly, Annie and Ella find themselves in the glare of a flashlight. A policeman informs them that they are not in a country club pool, but the pool of a private resident who is pressing trespassing charges “to teach you a lesson.” They get fingerprinted and have their mug shots taken at the police station. Then they’re thrown in the slammer. Ella is mortified and scared. Annie chuckles, “Doug would find this a hoot. His goody-goody sister in the can.”

Annie smooth-talks Officer Webb (Jay Underwood), the policeman on duty, to open her cell door so she can go to the bathroom. When she asks him to check it out to see if it’s clean, she shuts the door and wedges a chair under the handle. She and Ella make their escape. “Cross off another line on life’s ‘to do’ list. We’re a regular Thelma and Louise.”

Officer Webb, who has managed to break out of the bathroom, answers Annie’s cell phone, which is ringing on his desk. It’s Richard. “You know Annie and Ella Eason?,” Webb asks. “That’s my mother and my daughter,” Richard replies. “What did they do? “Why don’t I tell you where I am and I’ll tell you in person.”

At a homey coffee house, Annie and Ella are waited on by Scott Tardy (Garrett Strommen), a handsome young man who seems smitten with Ella. He invites them to stay for “Open Mic” night.

Officer Webb tells Richard that Annie and Ella were caught skinny dipping, but the charges have been dropped because the owner of the house “was a little taken with your mother.”

Ella overcomes her fear and sings at the coffee house. During her performance, Annie borrows a cell phone and dials Richard’s number. It takes him a moment to register that Ella is singing. He listens intently, obviously moved.

Annie and Ella say a fond farewell to Scott and take off again. Their next stop is Las Vegas. Annie pulls up in front of a casino. “I feel lucky,” Annie says. “We don’t have any money, I think we’re wanted fugitives, and you don’t have any medication left,” Ella replies. “What do you suggest we do?” Annie slowly opens her purse and pulls out the purple velvet bag. They pawn the coin and head for the roulette table.

They get down to their last $10, but finally their number comes up and they win big. Ella grabs a hundred-dollar chip to reclaim the gold coin from the pawn shop. Then she heads for a phone. Alone at the roulette table, Annie winces in pain, massaging her chest.

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Annie calls Richard from a pay phone and tells him they aren’t far from Annie’s Point. “I assume you know where that is?”

Ella takes Annie on a detour. “There’s someone I think you should see.” They pull up in front of the home of Annie’s estranged brother. Doug Gordon (James Keane) is taken aback to see his sister standing before him. He introduces his daughter, Lucy (Rebecca Switzer), to Annie and Ella. After a makeshift meal, Annie and Doug share a heartfelt conversation and make amends; Ella and Lucy find they have something in common.

The next morning, Annie, who has been experiencing chest pain, bids a poignant goodbye to her brother. She and Ella arrive at the church where Annie was married. Once inside, Annie, flooded with memories, begins to cry. Composing herself, she says, “I’m ready to take Grandpa home now.”

On his way to Annie’s Point, Richard gets Backus and his cronies on the phone and gives them a tongue lashing. “I don’t appreciate being talked to and treated like an amateur. My father put all three of you and your companies on the map and he never let you down. I won’t either. But right now, my family needs me, and I refuse to let them down.”

Annie and Ella finally reach Annie’s Point, a magnificent bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. “So this is what all the fuss is about?” They turn to see Richard standing behind them, a smile on his face.

Annie tells Richard that his father would have been very proud of him. She gives him his father’s lucky gold coin.

Annie walks to the end of the bluff and tells her late husband how much she misses him.

Richard tells Ella that he heard her singing and that she doesn’t have to go back to school. They make peace.

When Richard and Ella return to her, she is motionless under a tree. Richard and Ella panic, thinking that Annie has passed away. “What is this?,” Annie says, beginning to stir. “Can’t an old woman take a nap without a fuss?”

Then Annie, Richard and Ella walk toward the cliffs, where Annie scatters her beloved husband’s ashes. “Happy anniversary, my love.”

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