Suzanne Stone (Kidman) is a young, beautiful, and ruthless woman who dreams of being a world famous news anchor despite her rather limited intellect and talent. To that end, she marries Larry Maretto (Dillon) because she believes his Mafia connections will keep her financially comfortable, and starts climbing the network news ladder, beginning as a weather girl at a local cable station. When Larry, who truly loves Suzanne, starts asking her to take time off from her career to start a family, she immediately plots to get rid of him, seducing a high school student, Jimmy Emmett (Phoenix), and strong-arming him and his friends into killing Larry. The story becomes national news, and Suzanne finally has the stardom she's always wanted ? while Jimmy goes to prison for life.