Steve Martin plays Reverend Jonas Nightengale, a slick-as-oil flimflam man who'll trade salvation for a donation to his touring ministry. Jonas knows how to work a crowd and a con, but his works of wonder are done with mirrors and smoke. When his tour bus breaks down, Jonas pitches his tent in impoverished Rustwater, Kansas. While his manager (Debra Winger) tries to pursuade the local sheriff not to close the show, Jonas set his sights on a beautiful skeptic named Marva. But making a believer out of Marva is going to take a real miracle.