Attired in urban cowboy garb, Joe Buck is a naive Texas hayseed newly arrived in New York City to make it big as a gigolo, solely to his preferred clientele of rich, attractive women. His belief in his appeal to the female persuasion has been reinforced his entire life by every female he has ever encountered: family, friends, and lovers past and present. But life in New York City disappoints: he's out-hustled by most of the people he meets, and he lacks the fortitude to hustle them right back to get what was originally due to him. With nowhere to turn, he eventually befriends one of those hustlers: Enrico Salvatore Rizzo, a sickly man with a gimp leg. Some call him Ratzo, a nickname he dislikes. Joe ends up squatting with Ratso in a room he has found in a condemned, thus otherwise-empty building. As they lean on each other for support, they work together for their mutual benefit and survival. But as Ratso's health deteriorates over the winter, Joe changes his focus to achieving Ratso's dream of moving to Miami.—Huggo