Brad is a singer and guitarist living in The Twin Cities,
originally from Scotland. He makes a good living but he's
been recently saddled with huge personal debt, based on the
outlandish spending habits of his recently divorced wife.His best friend Monica is also hopeful for a brighter
future. She's a smart and attractive hard working woman
who's now 35 and still living in a singles' apartment. She
recently encountered a drain on her finances, having had to
spend all of her savings to pay medical bills for a good
friend. She dreams of having a real home to call her own.

Brad learns that he's the inheritor of an extremely valuable
"Qianlong" vase, from China, bequeathed to him by his
formerly world-traveling aunt Mary Alice Stifter. A sale of
this object would free Brad from all of his financial woes,
and he also pledges to provide a down payment for Monica, so
she can get her "real" home, catch up, and move on in life.

Brad and Monica meet w/ an attorney to discuss probate.
Things get complicated - it turns out that vase is tied into
another contract -- some sort of security for an
archaeological dig in which Mary Alice was a partner.

The dig is at the site of a group of magnificent (real)
effigy mounds, built by the "Woodland Indians" of Wisconsin
a thousand years ago, in South Western Wisconsin, near La
Crosse. This magnificent (real) site is real ancient
history, right here in the Midwest. The mounds themselves
are huge plots of raised earth, depicting a buffalo and a
bird, rendered perfectly when viewed from far above. On an


oultying hill, surrounding these mounds, are mounds laid out
in rows, to mark the sun's seasonal rising and setting
points.

Attorney Cal Severson agrees to help Brad sort out the
contracts by pledging a trade-out -- Brad will perform music
at a business function for Cal, Cal will work to sort-out
the crazy mess of interlocking contracts.



Brad does the gig, Cal digs into the contract. The vase is
collateral against relics Mary Alice has taken from the
archaeological dig. Now Brad and his friend Monica must
discern what was taken and make arrangements with the
parties concerned to get the relics returned, so that the
vase will be freed up, bequeathed to Brad, and it can be
sold for $250,000 or-so.

Brad and Monica set off on a road trip to the dig site,
taking them along the Mississippi river, down Hwy. 35 in
Wisconsin - the "Great River Road", one of the most scenic
drives in America. Throughout their drive the two converse
quite a bit, and their dialogue, while not always specific
to the plot, comprises a good deal of the entertainment in
the film - a lot of observations of modern culture, a few
political observations, a few personal stories from each
character's past (shown visually as flash-backs.)

When they arrive at the site, much to their dismay, they
discover that the foreman of the project is actually
Monica's jealous and controlling ex-boyfriend Ken, and he
immediately sets out to sabotage any solution to their
problem.

Brad and Monica's next stop is the executor's house
(Bill,the guy in charge of keeping track of items in Mary
Alice's will) back up river, back northward along the same
route in Wisconsin. But Ken races ahead of them as they head
that way. Ken manages to meet up with Bill ahead of Brad
and Monica and secretly rob him of half of the relics for
which the vase is collateral.

Brad drops off Monica with Bill, the executor,and continues
on to play a solo gig which he has scheduled in Pepin WI,
ten miles from Bill's house. Monica is to have dinner with
Bill, then check out the relics, with the intention to
expedite the intended process of getting them returned to th
e archaeological partners, so that the vase can be
bequeathed to Brad.

The evening turns into a fiasco. Brad has a disastrous gig,
in which he becomes frustrated with the stereotypical
cliched song requests he keeps receiving, and, at the end of
the night, the neck of his guitar is accidentally broken
after it falls through a fence rail and is snapped in two by
the legs of a patron who is walking. Meanwhile, Monica
discovers that the relics are NOT all accounted for and the
executor is incredibly disorganized, which doesn't boost her
confidence for any solution. Furthermore, Bill seems
lonely, and Monica must endure being the recipient of
unwanted advances.

Back home in the Twin Cities, Monica realizes that it must
have been Ken who stole the pieces. Cal volunteers to find
a way to get them back.

Cal conceives the idea that the tribal co-owner of the
archaeological project should have a permanent
archaeological research foundation, and Cal will facilitate
setting it up. He will recommend that Ken be the director
and chief scientist & researcher. He will pitch the idea to
Ken with the added condition being that they must have the
complete collection of relics from the site. He will not
imply to Ken that he has any suspicion that Ken has stolen
anything. Monica agrees that fulfillment of career
ambitions is important enough to Ken to sway him into
returning the relics.

Cal sets of on his own road trip to visit Ken at the site.
The two negotiate. Ken is absolutely genuinely thrilled
that he could be assigned as high position in the world of
archaeology.

Over phone calls subsequent of Cal's visit to the site, Ken
confirms that relics logged as being Mary Alice's finds were
somehow misplaced, and that he has recovered them from a
storage locker. They arrange for a meeting at Cal's office,
at which the missing relics will be presented and Cal will
facilitate an official offer to Ken from the tribal
co-owner.

Ken is actually still in conflict w/ regard to his breakup
and estrangement from Monica. When he arrives at Cal's
office, things get weird. Ken produces the missing pieces
and then contends that, in fact, he may not want to give
them up. An argument escalates and the two walk outside to
continue. The confrontation continues to escalate into a
standoff. Ken threatens to swallow one of the relics - an
arrowhead. A somewhat ridiculous slapstick event unfurls.
(To be explained.) In the aftermath, Ken huddles and shivers under a blanket in
Cal's office overtly, dramatically, with Cal and Ken looking
on, and resigns to return the pieces to the estate.

Finally, the vase has been returned to the executor and Brad
is authorized to receive it. He embarks with his friend
Monica back down the river road, to Bill's (the executor) house to
pick it up.

Upon arrival, Bill beckons them to his storage shed, where
he has placed the vase. Oddly enough, based on Bill's
disorganized and unkempt ways, the vase is perched
precariously on top of some other items. Brad and Monica
walk toward it, Monica steps on a board, something is
dislodged and we hear a loud crash. Oh my! F ck!!! Monica
creeps closer: "Oh, it was just a lamp." They gain
immeasurable relief. the vase is heavily wrapped and place
securely in the backseat of Brad's car.

The final scene is a voice narration by Brad, accompanied by
scenes of the cast engaging in their new/current lives:

"And on we go...and perhaps we learn a little...navigate the
changes in life...And perhaps women find a bit more meaning
(IMAGES of MONICA and TATIANA)...and men play a few more
games (IMAGES of CAL & Ken)...and, if you keep trying,
sometimes you WILL get lucky. That doesn't necessarily
apply to relationships, but most other things...and we can
learn a lot from art...but not a sing-along of "Sweet
Caroline"...wait no, and definitely from that....and we can
learn a lot from art, because it can be poignant
expression....and we can learn a lot from history too...if
we pay attention...and so on..and this and that can add
up...and we go on about our lives..."