1970s roller-skate jams fuel this coming-of-age comedy, as X and his friends, who rule their local rink, are shocked when their home base goes out of business. Heading over to the Sweetwater Roller Rink, they find their modest talents are, at first, no competition for their trick skaters and pretty girls who follow their every move.

In the Bronx, Joe, an Irish good guy, gets bad news twice the same day: he has a brain tumor and his wife wants a divorce, saying he's dull and lacks adventure. With her father's blessing, Joe takes off for adventures in the weeks before risky surgery. In Louisville, he's latched onto by Hush, a talkative belle with two kids, big debts to a nasty bookie, and few prospects. Even after she steals his wallet, Joe offers temporary help, bonds with her kids, and faces down the bookie. Soon Hush, Joe, and the kids are on the run toward Vegas. The bookie's on their tail, so are some Bronx bad guys, cancer lurks, Hush has her gambling jones, and the kids want stability. Can this work out?

Marshall, Texas, described by James Farmer, Jr. as "the last city to surrender after the Civil War," is home to Wiley College, where, in 1935-36, inspired by the Harlem Renaissance and his clandestine work as a union organizer, Professor Melvin Tolson coaches the debate team to a nearly-undefeated season that sees the first debate between U.S. students from white and Negro colleges and ends with an invitation to face Harvard University's national champions. The team of four, which includes a female student and a very young James Farmer, is tested in a crucible heated by Jim Crow, sexism, a lynch mob, an arrest and near riot, a love affair, jealousy, and a national radio audience.