In this award-winning film, Cathy (Julianne Moore) is the perfect '50s housewife and Frank (Dennis Quaid) is her perfect husband. Together they have the perfect '50s life: healthy kids, successful husband, social prominence. Then one night she discovers her husband's secret life and her tidy, insular world starts spinning out of control. Fearing the consequences of revealing her pain and confusion to anyone in her own social circle, she finds unexpected comfort and friendship with her African-American gardener, Raymond (Dennis Haysbert). Despite the social pressures of the day, Cathy pursues her deepening friendship with Raymond. In rejecting the prejudices and social conventions of the people she had thought to be her friends, she risks losing the kind of life she once lived and cherished. She also finds within herself a dignity and strength of far greater value.