 Alternately tragic and comic, an exploration of the complexities of love in both its brightest and darkest corners. Adapted from John Irving s best-selling novel A Widow for One Year, the film is set in the privileged beach community of East Hampton, New York and chronicles one pivotal summer in the lives of famous children s book author Ted Cole (Jeff Bridges) and his beautiful wife Marion (Kim Basinger). Their once-great marriage has been strained by tragedy. Her resulting despondency and his subsequent infidelities have prevented the couple from confronting a much-needed change in their relationship. Eddie O Hare, the young man Ted hires to work as his summer assistant, is the couple s unwitting yet willing pawn - and, ultimately, the catalyst in the transformation of their lives.