This emotional real-life tale features what is perhaps Cher's finest role. She plays the mother of Rocky Dennis (Eric Stoltz), a teenager with a rare bone disease who is trying to cope with his disfigurement and the prospect of imminent death. Peter Bogdanovich's direction shrewdly reveals the strengths and weaknesses of both mother and son as Cher tries to give Stoltz the confidence he lacks, encouraging him to follow her example and live life to the full. The end result is both an enormously moving and life-affirming experience.

A significantly deformed but highly intelligent teenage boy and his biker gang mother attempt to live as normal a life as possible under the circumstances.