John Norman Howard, a famous and self-destructive singer/songwriter
rock star, arrives late for a concert. He is drunk, and leaves the stage after singing only a few songs. John's driver takes him to a bar where Esther Hoffman is singing. One of John's fans finds him there and starts a fight. Esther grabs John and helps him escape out a back door. They go to Esther's and she invites him to come back for breakfast. Over breakfast (pepperoni pizza), she agrees to go to a concert with him. After arriving by helicopter, John rides a motorbike around the stage, snags a cable and crashes off the front of the stage. He is taken away by ambulance and his entourage leaves in the helicopter, forgetting Esther. Afterwards, John is resting at home by his pool. When the radio DJ Bebe Jesus hovers over the pool in a helicopter to invite him to his studio, the angry John shoots at them. The DJ then threatens to never play John's songs. Later, John goes to the radio station with a case of whiskey to make peace with Bebe Jesus. The disc jockey refuses to accept John's apology, calling him an alcoholic over the air. Esther happens to be at the radio station at the same time, taping a commercial. John takes her to his mansion and writes her name on the wall with a can of spray paint. They make love, have a bubble bath together, and he listens to her playing his piano. Esther thinks no one would be able to sing to the tune she has written, but he makes up some lyrics and starts singing. At his next concert, John gets Esther on stage to sing. Although the audience boos at first, she wins them over. Later, Esther tells John she wants them to get married. Although John replies that he is no good for her, she persists, and they marry. John takes Esther to a ranch he has in the Southwest, where they build a simple house. She wants to go on tour together, but he thinks she should do the tour on her own. Esther's career takes off, eclipsing his. John returns to the studio thinking of restarting his career. Bobbie, a member of his entourage, tells him that the band has gone on without him and have renamed themselves. To save face, John asks him to tell the others that he has found some new artists to work with and wishes them luck. At home alone, John begins to write a new song. As he sings, he is constantly interrupted by the telephone. Someone asks for Esther and wants to know whether he is her secretary. When she returns home, she asks how it went with the band and John tells her it did not work out. He changes the subject to find out about Esther's day and goes through the messages he has taken for her, one of which is that she is up for a
Grammy Award. At the Grammy Awards, Esther wins for best female performance. While she is giving her acceptance speech, John arrives late and drunk and makes a scene. Later, Esther tries to talk Brian into giving John a last chance. John is writing songs again, but they are different from his earlier hits. Brian calls on John and likes the new songs, but suggests he release them alongside some of his old hits. John wants to pursue this new direction, so turns down the offer. Back at his
LA mansion, John finds Quentin, an aspiring music journalist, swimming half-naked in his swimming pool. She follows him inside, saying she is willing to do anything to get an exclusive interview—with Esther. When Esther arrives soon after, she finds them in bed together. Quentin tries to interview her, but John tells Quentin to get out. The couple fight, him saying "I love you" and her responding "I hate you", until Esther confesses that she does love him. In an attempt to recapture their earlier happiness, they return to the ranch. One day, John wakes early and tells Esther he is going to pick up Brian from the airport. Esther asks him to hurry back. John leaves the house with a beer in hand and drives off in his flashy red convertible. He puts on his biggest hit, but gets bored and switches to one of Esther's songs. John drives faster and faster on the winding country roads. A police helicopter approaches John's wrecked car. It lands, and Esther and Brian run out towards John's dead body, which is covered by a blanket. Esther asks for another blanket and cleans his face. In tears, she lies down on John and asks him what she is supposed to do without him. John is taken away in an ambulance, as a police officer shoos off a few photographers. Back at the LA mansion, Esther hears John's voice, but she discovers it is just the tape of his earlier songwriting session, which a mover cannot figure out how to stop. She cries on the step of the now empty house, saying that he was a liar and he was not supposed to leave her. At a memorial concert for John, Esther walks onstage, introduced as Esther Hoffman-Howard. The audience raises candles as a tribute to her late husband. Esther sings the song John wrote for her, "With One More Look at You", and then transitions into his hit "Watch Closely Now", done in her own style. On the last beat of the song, Esther spreads her arms wide and looks up to the heavens. ==Cast==