Plot
In 1962, best friends and brothers-in-law Willie Husband and simple-minded Frank Lovegren are running from the police because Willie shot and killed a man. It was self-defense, but a witness intends to frame them both for kidnapping and murder. [3]
Frank explains what happened: Willie, his wife Joy, and little daughter Jess live happily in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Joy's brother, Frank, lives with them. Willie lost his job at the milk company, and they have fallen behind in house payments. They learn the bank intends to foreclose, so Willie pays a visit to the banker, Bob Freeman, to show that he made up the back payments with funds borrowed from relatives. Freeman takes Willie's receipt and burns it, then offers to buy his house for less than it's worth. He is building a substantial new home development in the area and needs all the land in Willie's neighborhood. Willie refuses to undersell or bow to pressure and destroys an expensive chair and rug before storming out of the office. That's the last straw for Freeman, and he vows revenge.
On the drive home, Willie discovers Frank "borrowed" Freeman's little boy, Donald, because Frank realized his father was emotionally abusing him. He pleads to Willie to let him keep Donald, as he is small and won't eat much. When they get home, Joy convinces Willie they have to accept the lowball offer and get out while they can. Willie calls Freeman to tell him that he will take his offer after all and that his son had somehow "wedged himself into the back seat" of his car. Realizing this is his chance to get what he wants, Freeman accuses Willie of kidnapping. They agree to meet in the desert just outside town, Willie believing it is only to return the boy and to get the $9,000 Freeman offered for his house.
Once they are face to face, Freeman produces an envelope filled with $15,000, intending to make this look like a ransom exchange. Freeman and his henchman then both pull guns right in front of little Donald, as Freeman admits he was the one who got Willie fired from his job so he would be unable to pay his mortgage, making it possible for him to buy the house for a low price. He is confident Donald will tell the police whatever he says to tell them, and as he aims his gun, Willie jumps Freeman, and the henchman shoots Willie in the shoulder. Freeman reaches for the gun, but Frank tackles and knocks him out. The henchman aims his gun at Frank, but Willie shoots the man in the chest. It was self-defense, but they knew Freeman would claim otherwise. They have to leave Donald there and take off before the police arrive, whom Freeman called before he got there. They try to stop at home first, but they can see police cars are already there. Willie's little daughter sees them coming and silently shakes her head to tell them not to stop, so sadly, they drive away. They don't realize this is the last time they may ever see Joy and Jess.
After escaping for hours through the desert, they come across Dr. Dan Chilblains in Pomona, California. Willie has passed out, but the doctor fixes up his wound, discovering that Frank has glomerulonephritis, which will eventually kill him. Chilblains has invented a procedure that can freeze a human being without killing him and convinces Frank to let him freeze them both until Frank can be treated for kidney disease – maybe even get a new kidney (a procedure that is not widely known in 1962) – and to hide them from the police. Excited by the prospect of being cured, Frank agrees and assumes the unconscious Willie will be okay with it. The doctor allows Frank to think it's just like sleeping and will only be for a little while. He sedates them, then Chilblains' colleagues show up and reluctantly help him prepare the men for the cryogenic process.
Twenty-nine years later, in 1991, a truck crashed, destroying and flooding the cryogenic storage facility and causing the tanks storing the two men to burst open. Willie and Frank, in body bags, are revived by floating in electrified water. Suddenly regaining consciousness, they escape from the bags, freezing, wet, and confused. Once they get their wits about them, they return to Santa Fe, assuming Joy and Jess will be there waiting. Dr. Chilblains left them clothing, $100, and a note that doesn't explain much. They are starving and go to buy food. The culture shock, high prices, and modern technology are unique and overwhelming to them. Frank realizes he needs his medication, so they visit a hospital, where they finally learn the date and what happened to them.
They return to Santa Fe and track down Willie's daughter, Jess, who is now grown up with "her telephone number… her own house." Seeing Jess all grown up, only now does Frank accept that so much time has passed. Once she calms down, she explains to Willie that Joy had to move on; she married someone else but is now divorced because her second husband didn't meet the standard set by her first husband. She also told him that Joy stood up to Freeman; she managed to keep their home and exposed Freeman's scam. Freeman then went away and built half of Phoenix; eventually, someone murdered him.
Willie and Jess leave Frank at her house and go to Joy's to meet her. While they're gone, Frank meets Jess' husband, who turns out to be Donald Freeman. At Joy's house, Jess makes her sit down and listen to Willie explain, but keeps her back turned and does not look at him. When she finally does look, she has trouble accepting that he hasn't aged and says they can never be together again because too much has changed and she is too old. Willie manages to woo her back by reminding her why he loved her, that he still loves her, and that he knows she hasn't changed.
Finally, a series of "home movies" and photographs reveals their renewed lives together, including the fact that Joy donated a kidney to save Frank's life.
