Having retired from a life of gunfights and peacekeeping, the great Wyatt Earp (James Garner) has landed a job as adviser to a Western movie about himself. On the set of the silent picture, he gets to know Tom Mix (Bruce Willis), an actor who specializes in Westerns, who has been hired to portray Earp. Not long after making each others' acquaintance, they find out that Earp's ex-girlfriend's son is missing, and the man responsible may be studio chief Alfie Alperin (Malcolm McDowell).