The story is set at the beginning of the 20th century in Sicily. Salvatore, a very poor farmer, and a widower, decides to emigrate to the US with all his family, including his old mother. Before they embark, they meet Lucy. She is supposed to be a British lady and wants to come back to the States. Lucy, or Luce as Salvatore calls her, for unknown reasons wants to marry someone before to arrive to Ellis Island in New York. Salvatore accepts the proposal. Once they arrive in Ellis Island they spend the quarantine period trying to pass the examinations to be admitted to the States. Tests are not so simple for poor farmers coming from Sicily. Their destiny is in the hands of the custom officers.
37-year-old Italian-American widow Loretta Castorini believes she is unlucky in love, and so accepts a marriage proposal from her boyfriend Johnny, even though she doesn't love him. When she meets his estranged younger brother Ronny, an emotional and passionate man, she finds herself drawn to him. She tries to resist, but Ronny, who blames his brother for the loss of his hand, has no scruples about aggressively pursuing her while Johnny is out of the country. As Loretta falls for Ronny, she learns that she's not the only one in her family with a secret romance.
Tom Ludlow is a disillusioned L.A. Police Officer, rarely playing by the rules and haunted by the death of his wife. When evidence implicates him in the execution of a fellow officer, he is forced to go up against the cop culture he's been a part of his entire career, ultimately leading him to question the loyalties of everyone around him.
Ben Sanderson, an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his drinking, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera.
With no clue how he came to be imprisoned, drugged and tortured for 15 years, a desperate man seeks revenge on his captors.
Inspired by the incredible true story of a hairdresser who single-handedly rallies an entire community to help a widowed father save the life of his critically ill young daughter.
In 1970s Hollywood, Detective Philip Marlowe tries to help a friend who is accused of murdering his wife.
A movie star helps a young singer-actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.
Once called "Father Frank" for his efforts to rescue lives, Frank Pierce sees the ghosts of those he failed to save around every turn. He has tried everything he can to get fired, calling in sick, delaying taking calls where he might have to face one more victim he couldn't help, yet cannot quit the job on his own.
Although his alcoholism has been treated, Alain still feels he is deeply unwell and does not feel he can leave the detoxification clinic once and for all. His wife, living in New York, continues to pay for his treatment, but no longer contacts him directly. He intends to commit suicide, but first takes a ride to Paris to catch up with old friends.
Konstantin, a songwriter and master guitarist, runs away from numerous problems to the nature reserve Mikhailovskoye. Kostya has long lost any way of income and has almost given up hope to be heard, living by sheer inertia and often drawing on alcohol. His wife and daughter are going to Canada, and in his head he constantly turns around the question: what exactly has gone wrong? How can he put it right? Does anyone need his creative work at all, or has he just talked himself into that? Maybe Konstantin has enough energy to change things, but he strongly doubts that: indeed, why and for whom should he try. Nevertheless, the nature reserve is the right place to collect his thoughts, break the minefield of his own life into sections, and get to work.
An alcoholic grandfather is seriously ill. His doctor suggests that experiencing a bad scare could cure him. His grandson volunteers to help him.
A native Briton banished to Australia for murder, and his wife, Henrietta, the disturbed sister of the man he was convicted on killing, set out to help her conquer her demons and return her life to normal.
World War I has left golfer Rannulph Junuh a poker-playing alcoholic, his perfect swing gone. Now, however, he needs to get it back to play in a tournament to save the financially ravaged golf course of a long-ago sweetheart. Help arrives in the form of mysterious caddy Bagger Vance.
A West Texas single mother wins the lottery and squanders it just as fast, leaving behind a world of heartbreak. Years later, with her charm running out and nowhere to go, she fights to rebuild her life and find redemption.
Successful architect Robert has a one-night stand with a mysterious lady in red. The next day they meet again, but Carolin is now a corporate lawyer working on a major contract for Robert ...
After long absence, a man returns to his hometown only to find his best friend has become an alcoholic.
A couple shelters an alcoholic haunted by his Republican past in their suburban home.
Vietnam veteran Archibald Wright is a house painter hired to work on a Beverly Hills mansion where he becomes involved in the life of the resident family. The owner Elaine left her husband J.P. while he was serving in Vietnam, causing him to become an alcoholic hobo living in downtown Los Angeles. Archibald tries to help their daughter Tory to continue her relationship with her father, even though Elaine is strongly against it.
Charlotte is an alcoholic trying to complete her first year of sobriety. One evening, when the urge to drink is so strong that she fears a relapse, Charlotte goes to see her sponsor, Jeanne, an alcoholic who has been sober for over five years. However, when Charlotte arrives at Jeanne's, she finds her sponsor in a state of drunkenness. With the roles of helper and cared-for now reversed, Charlotte decides to step in.