A divorced female marine officer (Anne Heche) with two small children begins an affair with a senior officer (Sam Shepard) in this fact-based drama. Things turn nasty when she discovers that he is married. She tells him it is over, but he won't accept her ultimatum. Pledging to divorce his wife, he tries to force himself on her including an incident where he unloaded his weapon in front of a platoon of men at a firing range to get her attention. Finally, he breaks into her house and tries to force himself on her. She pulls a weapon from beneath her pillow and kills him. The movie then moves to the court room proceedings and a cover-up created by base officers who refuse to let their fellow officer's reputation be smudged.