Chuck, a crusty old civic engineer, has an arsenal full of memories. With irreverent wit, he rattles on, in his irascible humorous style, burning his spicy stories into the imagination of a young neighbor kid Danny.

Chuck Langer (Sir John Hurt), a crusty old civic engineer, has an arsenal full of memories. With irreverent wit, he rattles on, in his irascible humorous style, burning his spicy stories into the imagination of a young neighbor kid, Danny Himes (Gregory Smith). Danny is a gifted, spirited athlete with something to prove. Worldly, old man Langer has turned his back on proving anything at all. It's post World War II. Danny's father, Earl (David Strathairn), did not serve in the military and is considered a coward. Danny excels to overcome his father's reputation while Earl is actually more a man than the town knows. "You don't smoke, you don't drink, and you don't screw. What kind of man are you anyway?" old man Langer asks Danny. The more appropriate question is: "What kind of men are they?"

Baltimore, 1959. Danny's (Gregory Smith's) dad (David Strathairn) is the only man in the neighborhood who didn't fight in World War II. Danny, who's twelve, gets teased, and folks make nasty cracks about cowards. An old radio tower on a nearby hill is about to be torn down, and Danny decides to climb it to prove his courage. Help comes from an aging neighbor, Chuck Langer (Sir John Hurt), a former construction foreman who's dying of cancer and wants Danny to help him commit suicide. Langer rigs pulleys and weights to help the lad make the climb. Meanwhile, an aggressive and angry neighbor (an Army veteran) regularly gets drunk and shoots off his rifle, and Danny's dad must confront him. It all comes to a head one stormy night.—<[email protected]>