The
story, such as it is, is recounted in flashbacks by the 16 - year - old narrator - hero, David, as he sits alone in a train compartment at night, looking out the
window at the dark countryside; it has to do with the deterioration of his father, Frank (Denis Leary), after he loses his
factory job (he becomes a wife beater), and then of his mother, Sarah (Diana Scarwid), after Frank goes overseas to fight in Italy and is killed in action (she gradually goes mad).