Fresh from the farm, Claude Bukowski (John Savage) arrives in New York City for a date with the Army Induction Board, only to walk into a hippie 'happening' in Central Park and fall in love with the beautiful Sheila (Beverly D'Angelo). Befriended by the hippies' pacifist leader, Berger (Treat Williams), and urged to crash a formal party in order to declare his love for Sheila, Claude begins an adventure that lands him in jail, Central Park Lake and finally, in the army. But Berger's final effort to save Claude from Vietnam sets in motion a bizarre twist of fate...with shocking consequences.