 Biographical look at the bombastic love affair that writers Dashiell Hammett (Sam Shepard) and Lillian Hellman (Judy Davis) shared in 1940 and 50 s Hollywood. Refusing to marry, but deeply in love, the two engaged in many affairs and battled the bottle. Dashiell served in both World wars, but in the 1950 s, he was branded a Communist and cast into prison during the McCarthy witch hunts. Hellman likewise was branded a Communist, but was kept out of prison. Neither were able to work, requiring Lillian to take a job as a sales-woman in a boutique while Dashiell suffered from tuberculosis and eventually lung cancer. Bebe Neuwirth also appears as socialite-writer Dorothy Parker.