Dedee Truit (Christina Ricci) is the opposite of sweet sixteen. Politically incorrect, outrageous, and bracingly honest, she descends on the Indiana town of her half-brother Bill (Martin Donovan) like the force of nature she is. Within weeks Dedee seduces his beautiful but befuddled live-in boyfriend Matt (Ivan Sergei), announces that Matt is the father of her unborn child, and escapes with him, and $10,000 of Bill's money, to the not-so-bright lights of Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, Matt's other boyfriend (Johnny Galecki) blames Bill for his disappearance, and gets even by pushing for an investigation by the local sheriff (Lyle Lovett), who incidentally carries a torch for Bill's best friend Lucia (Lisa Kudrow), a wickedly acid spinster who disapproves of everything Dedee does and hey, who can blame her?
It's a chase, buoyant comedy of manners, a celebration of the unpredictable. But ultimately it's the story of six confused, touching, and hilarious people who eventually stumble into what they've wanted all along: loving, committed relationships - what Dedee calls "the opposite of sex".