The true story of Rocky Dennis, a personable young man who has craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, a fatal disease which causes hideous facial disfigurement. Rocky is the son of biker Rusty and he is accepted without question by his mom's boyfriends and her cycle buddies, but treated with pity and disgust by much of the outside world. The local high school principal doesn't want to enroll Rocky, but Rusty fights for her son's rights. Rocky eventually falls...

Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke is the commander of a cavalry outpost on the Rio Grande. When Yorke's estranged wife arrives to pull their teenage son out of the army, they decide to give their marriage another try. Meanwhile, a risky plan to outwit a tribe of warring Apaches puts Yorke in danger of being court-martialed.