During a trip to Germany to scatter their grandfather's ashes, German-American brothers Todd and Jan discover Beerfest, the secret Olympics of downing stout, and want to enter the contest to defend their family's beer-guzzling honor. Their Old Country cousins sneer at the Yanks' chances, prompting the siblings to return to America to prepare for a showdown the following year.

A career officer and his wife work with a police detective to uncover the truth behind their son's disappearance following his return from a tour of duty in Iraq.

Amid the dust storms and economic depression of Dust Bowl Era Oklahoma, Eugene Evans finds his family farm on the brink of foreclosure. Discovering fugitive bank robber Allison Wells hiding in his small town, he is torn between claiming the bounty on her head and his growing attraction to the seductive criminal.

A woman who accidentally runs over and kills an endangered snake is put on trial by a misogynist judge. She then tries to save herself by spinning an impossibly tall, "Arabian Nights"-esque tale of gossip and intrigue that eventually involves everyone in their small town.