Rising Hollywood screenwriter Peter Appleton (Jim Carrey) is blacklisted in the early 1950s Red Scare. Following a drunken car accident, he wakes with amnesia near the small town of Lawson, Calif., where the residents mistake him for Luke Trimble, a local boy declared missing in action during World War II. As Peter helps Luke's father (Martin Landau) and high school sweetheart (Laurie Holden) reopen the town's sole movie theater, questions arise about his true identity and motivations.