Rusty James (Matt Dillon) misses his brother. More importantly, he misses the way life used to be when his gang, the Packers, ruled the area. But Motorcycle Boy (Mickey Rourke), outlawed gang wars before his mysterious disappearance. Rusty finds himself in a dead end situation. He hates school. His mother has left and his father is a drunk. He decides to break the treaty and fights Biff Wilcox (Glenn Withrow). The result is disastrous. Rusty is seriously hurt. As he recovers, Motorcycle Boy shows up. While there, he tries to show Rusty how his life is being wasted. Although Rusty rebels at the idea, when his girlfriend Patty (Diane Lane) dumps him, Rusty thinks that maybe, just maybe, Motorcycle Boy knows what he’s talking about.