It is Labor Day weekend. Americans are hitting the roads in droves. The radio crackles with warnings of traffic jams and accidents. Steve and his wife Nancy are due to drive up to Maine from New York City to pick up their two children from camp. But Steve wants a drink before he goes-he needs to relax after a long day at the office-and once he's on the road, he wants another. And another. Before long his suppressed rage at his wife starts coming out; she gets paid better than he does and he has to be home to make dinner for the kids. When Steve stops for yet another drink, Nancy has had enough; she stalks off. After that the drive turns into a bender. Wanting to rebel against his conventional life, along the way he picks up an enigmatic hitchhiker, Sid Hannigan, who happens to be an escapee from Sing-Sing prison. There's something about the man's lawlessness that makes Steve want to talk and keep talking, confessing all his domestic woes. After they part ways, Steve will have to soberly confront his actions of the previous day, discovering the secret of how his wife had also crossed Sid's path by chance.