Skipped Parts 2000

In 1963, a liberal-minded and reckless Lydia Callahan Jennifer Jason Leigh is raising her 14-year-old son, Sam Bug Hall. Lydia’s father Caspar Callahan R. Lee Ermey, a prominent local businessman, is running for governor of North Carolina and wants them out of the way, so the two are banished from North Carolina. They travel across the country and settle in Wyoming, where Lydia only wants to have a good time and refuses to allow Sam to call her “mom.”

Sam soon discovers he is one of only two students at Gro Vont High School who read. The other is Maurey Pierce Mischa Barton, a girl the same age as Sam who wants to learn about sex. Their shared curiosity pulls them closer, and after a difficult moment at Maurey’s house, Sam offers comfort when she lies about something, and their bond deepens as Maurey becomes pregnant. She decides to have an abortion at a distant hospital, and, by coincidence, runs into her mother and the baseball coach who are there for the same reason.

Maurey moves in with Lydia and Sam after her father permanently kicks her out. Meanwhile, Hank Elkrunner Michael Greyeyes, a Blackfoot man, falls for Lydia, while her controlling father keeps a wary distance and watches them from afar. Maurey and Sam share tea and discuss how romance works, as the grown-up world feels increasingly tangled around them.

In a later moment, Maurey and Sam are alone in a bedroom, navigating a growing intimacy. They move through awkwardness and curiosity, with Sam feeling embarrassed at times, but Maurey encouraging them to be honest and to take things at their own pace.

In the end, Maurey chooses not to terminate the pregnancy and keeps the baby, a daughter named Shannon. Lydia faces pressure to cut ties and send Sam to military school, but she decides to stay with Hank and takes a job at the local diner. Hank sells his trailer and moves in with Sam and Lydia, and Maurey and Shannon join them to form a new, blended family. The film closes with Sam finishing the recount of the story, Shannon nearby, and memories continuing to shape his view of love and life.

Throughout the film, Sam experiences many dream fantasies in which Fantasy Girl Drew Barrymore appears as the object of his desires, adding a surreal layer to his evolving perceptions of romance.