Jack Baker (Jeff Bridges) and Frank Baker (Beau Bridges) are brothers, living in Seattle, making a meagre living playing in seedy lounges and piano bars. In despair, they hold auditions for a female singer to join the outfit, ending up with the beautiful but hard-nosed Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer), a former escort with unusual charisma. The new act, with Susie headlining, becomes unexpectedly successful and leads to bigger gigs and better money, but the sexual tension between Susie and Jack reaches boiling point at a New Year’s Eve show, and in the absence of dutiful husband and father Frank, they give in to their urges. However, Jack’s inability to express his feelings leads their relationship to disintegrate, at the same time as Frank and Jack’s brotherly feud escalates. The act eventually breaks up, and Susie moves on to pastures new, while the brothers reconcile.