Joseph Francis Keller, who goes by Keller to everyone in his life including his daughter Lynn, is an aging divorcee who lives in the suburbs of Boston. It has been years since he divorced his wife Sue Anne, and he spends his time taking his neighbor, the travel agent Sigrid Crane, out on dates. On one such occasion, Keller accidentally spills hot tea on Sigrid, although she insists she is not burned by it. Keller is incredulous, and the duo bicker over the magnitude of the accident. Sigrid is also a divorcee; her husband descended into increasingly extreme forms of animal rights activism, left her, and eventually roped their son Brad into a scheme to free turkeys from slaughter.   Later, Lynn calls Keller and invites him to Thanksgiving dinner. Despite sharing a quick-wittedness, the father and daughter do not get along particularly well, and Keller does not take the invitation seriously. However, the call reminds Keller of the time he went to Los Angeles to visit his nephew and niece Richard and Rita. The trip consisted of a lavish itinerary, although on the last day Keller was left alone in the house and ended up saving a possum that had been drowning in their pool. After having assured himself that the possum survived, Keller locks eyes with a deer that quickly scurries away. Keller cannot shake the feeling that the deer had been spiritual in nature and had blessed him. When he returns to Boston and relays the events to Lynn, she does not seem to understand the significance.   In the present day, Keller visits Sigrid at her office in order to book a flight to Germany on behalf of his friend’s daughter. Upon returning home, he sees that his trash can has been knocked over with trash strewn across the lawn, and after further inspection finds Brad waiting for him at the door. Keller is perturbed by the unexpected visit, and tries to use humor to find common ground with the boy, but Brad is agitated. He first awkwardly asks for money for a bicycle, and then admits to making the mess on the front lawn. He then accuses Keller of being a ‘sleazebag’ like his own father. Keller cannot figure out the boy’s purpose in visiting, and begins reflecting on the suicide of his own father, when Brad pulls out a pistol and shoots Keller.   Keller awakens in a hospital room with his daughter at his side, and is recalled back to the fateful encounter with his guardian angel deer.