Don Anderson (Greg Kinnear) is the Mickey’s food restaurant chain’s Marketing Director. He is the inventor of the “Big One” the hamburger best seller of Mickey’s. An independent research reports the presence of cow’s feces in the Big One. So Don is sent to Cody, Colorado, to verify if the slaughterhouse, main supplier of Mickey’s, is efficient as it appears and the production process is regular. During his investigations he discovers the horrible truth behind a simple hamburger; the reality is not like we think it is. Don discovers that the mass production system involves from the temp workers like Amber (Ashley Jonhson), to the exploitation of Mexican irregular immigrants. It is not only the meat that is crush in the mincing machine, but all our society.

While passing through the town of Bannock, a bunch of drunken, trail-weary cattlemen go overboard with their celebrating and accidentally kill an old man with a stray shot. They return home to Sabbath unaware of his death. Bannock lawman Jered Maddox later arrives there to arrest everyone involved on a charge of murder. Sabbath is run by land baron Vince Bronson, a benevolent despot, who, upon hearing of the death, offers restitution for the incident. Maddox, however, will not compromise even though small ranchers like Vern Adams are not in a position to desert their responsibilities for a long and protracted trial. Sabbath’s marshal, Cotton Ryan, is an aging lawman whose tough reputation rests on a single incident that occurred years before. Ryan admits to being only a shadow of what he once was and no threat to stop Maddox. Maddox confides to Ryan that Bannock’s judicial system is weak and corrupt, and while he’s doubtful that anyone he brings back will suffer more than the price of a bribe, he will not be deterred in his unrelenting pursuit of his duty. Initially Bronson appears willing to make concessions, but when his oldest friend Harvey Stenbaugh is killed after deliberately picking a fight with Maddox, Bronson digs in his heels with the rest of the town to resist the relentless lawman.

Boss Spearman, Charley Waite, Mose Harrison and Button freegraze their cattle across the vast prairies of the West, sharing a friendship forged by a steadfast code of honor and living a life unencumbered by civilization. When their wayward herd forces them near the small town of Harmonville, the cowboys encounter a corrupt sheriff and kingpin rancher who govern the territory through fear, tyranny and violence. Boss and Charley find themselves inextricably drawn towards an inevitable showdown, as they are forced to defend the freedom and values of a lifestyle that is all too quickly vanishing. Amidst the turmoil, life suddenly takes an unexpected turn for the loner Charley when he meets the beautiful and warm spirited Sue Barlow, a woman who embraces both his heart and his soul.

‘Moisés Kaufman’ (qv) and members of New York’s Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie, Wyoming after the murder of ‘Matthew Shepard (I)’ (qv). This is a film version of the play they wrote based on more than 200 interviews they conducted in Laramie. It follows and in some cases re-enacts the chronology of Shepherd’s visit to a local bar, his kidnap and beating, the discovery of him tied to a fence, the vigil at the hospital, his death and funeral, and the trial of his killers. It mixes real news reports with actors portraying friends, family, cops, killers, and other Laramie residents in their own words. It concludes with a Laramie staging of “Angels in America” a year after Shephard’s death.