When a woman drives a car into the river to her death, everyone in town becomes a suspect.
Mona Dearly, a spiteful, loud-mouthed, unpopular woman, dies when the car she is driving plunges off a cliff and into a river near the small upstate New York town where she lives. Wyatt Rash, the local police chief, investigates and suspects foul play in Mona's death. The whole town is suspect, including Wyatt's daughter Ellen, who is about to marry landscape artist Bobby Calzone, whose business suffers from his lazy business partner, Jeff, Mona's slow-witted son, as well as waitress Rona Mace, who was having an affair with Mona's husband.—<[email protected]>
When Mona's key won't fit in her Yugo, she tries it in her son's; when it works, she borrows his car. The brakes fail; she goes through the guard rail, into the river, and drowns. When police chief Rash learns that the brake lines were cut, he looks for a murderer. Suspect one: Mona's dim son Jeff, whom she constantly denigrated. Suspect two: her husband Phil, whom she constantly belittled and who's having an affair with Rona, a waitress with a secret of her own. Suspect three: Jeff's landscape partner Bobby, who wants Jeff out, has yelled at Mona that he'd like to rip out her ovaries, and who is soon to be Rash's son-in-law. Can Rash find the killer and keep Bobby out of jail?—<[email protected]>
Mona Dearly (Bette Midler) can't unlock her car so, as her keys fit her son Jeph's (Marcus Thomas) Yugo, she takes that and drives off. On a bend, the brakes fail completely and she drives off a cliff into the Hudson River. Clarence, fishing in the river, sees it happen. Chief Wyatt Rash (Danny DeVito) observes there are no skid marks on the road.
Her long-suffering husband Phil (William Fichtner) and son Jeph, show no grief when learning of Mona's death, an abusive, belligerent heavy drinker, loved by none (Jeph is more concerned about his car).
Ellie Rash (Neve Campbell, Wyatt's daughter) wants to celebrate as the Dearlys treated Bobby (Casey Affleck) her fiancé and Jeph's business partner) badly. JB Landscaping is not doing well due to Jeph's laziness and poor behavior.
Phil and Rona (Jamie Lee Curtis), who are having an affair, meet at the Charm Motel. He expresses happiness about Mona's death but denies involvement. Bobby meets Murph (Mark Pellegrino), his older brother, who has been helping him financially. Murph suspects he had a hand in Mona's death.
Wyatt's investigation takes him to Jeph, who claims that Bobby threatened and attacked Mona. Lucinda (Kathleen Wilhoite), the local mechanic specializing in Yugos (driven by everyone in town) informs Wyatt that the car Mona was driving had been tampered with in multiple ways.
Phil tells Wyatt he had been a battered husband, as Mona suspected he was having an affair. He also claims Jeph and Mona had had an argument on the evening before the accident. Bobby tells Wyatt he hated Mona and that they had had an argument over Jeph's pay. She would not let him dissolve the partnership unless Bobby bought them out. Phil and Jeph leave Mona's wake very early.
Meanwhile, Wyatt breaks into the Dearlys,' finding that Mona's and Jeph's car keys had been switched. Phil expresses his gratitude to Bobby for killing Mona. Bobby then confesses to Ellie that he rigged Jeph's car, as Jeph was destroying their business. She then announces she is pregnant. Clarence overhears their conversation.
Phil tells Wyatt he spotted Bobby near the Dearly residence on the night before the accident, claiming that he did not say this earlier because Wyatt and Bobby will soon be family. Jeph, who is also involved with Rona, finds out about Phil's affair with her. Bobby tells Wyatt that Mona threatened him, not the other way around, and that he was in the Hideaway the evening before the accident, which Valerie tells him is not true. Murph later tries to cover Bobby on this. Valerie also gives him a sharp gardening tool with the letters "JB" on it.
Phil is found dead in a pond at the Charm Motel. Murph tells Ellie, who fears that Bobby, who left their house that night, did it. When Rona finds out, she tries to leave town. It turns out Jeph did not help Phil when he fell into the water after he threatened to expose him, Rona, and Bobby.
Police learn that Jeph is threatening suicide because of Rona's leaving. He reveals that a drunken Mona had unrepentantly chopped off his hand when they fought over a bottle of beer. He also states that Phil was not his biological father, adding that, despite all that, he did not kill either of them. Wyatt manages to take the gun away from Jeph.
Wyatt then tells Bobby privately that Clarence confessed to killing Phil, because he could not stand the idea of Bobby going to jail with the baby on the way. Clarence was watching Phil --- who had seen Bobby rig the car --- tampering with it some more and then switching the keys in the house. Bobby's initial tampering had been superficial and did not contribute to the accident, whereas Phil's did.
Wyatt promises Bobby to keep quiet about Bobby's involvement as long as he takes good care of Ellie and the baby. Finally, Bobby and Ellie get married and Clarence is taken away.
