Chicago college student Max Hanson (Jackson) is a talented artist and hockey player. Though more interested in the latter, he is under pressure from his mother, Sophie (Williams) to pursue a career in art, influenced by the fact that she put her own career aside to raise the family and has just landed a coveted position with a local art gallery. Max's father, Ed (Colm Feore), is a tax attorney with a more laid-back approach to his son's future, just wanting him to be happy.