Joel is a high school student of seemingly sober conduct. However, when his parents go away he trashes the house, loses the Porsche in the lake and, through his association with a local prostitute, turns his parents' home into a house of ill repute.

Alex Cox's story of William Walker (Ed Harris), an American soldier of fortune, whose Latin American escapades in the mid 1800s continue to have ripple effects in US policy today. When his wife dies, Walker decides to leave a promising career in politics behind and, backed by banking magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, travels to Nicaragua to make it safe for Vanderbilt's steamships. However, once there, Walker sets himself up as Nicaragua's president; until the nation decides they no longer want to be ruled by a mad 'gringo'.