Tilt is the story of a precocious young girl who is a pinball wizard. Because she does not get on with her parents, Tilt is contemplating running away from home. Skipping school one day, she decides to go to to Mickey's Bar. Mickey, who is Tilt's good friend, helps her set up a gambler for a pinball game. Because the gambler is unaware of Tilt's pinball wizardry, he is easily hustled out of his money. While watching the confrontation, a young man named Neil Gallagher, who is an aspiring musician, is impressed with Tilt's ability, congratulating her after the win. Neil invites Tilt to watch him sing at a rock concert, and after his performance she believes he can become a great singer. Because Neil needs money for a demo tape of his songs, he has an idea of taking Tilt with him and having her hustle would-be gamblers.
Carrie Watts is living the twilight of her life trapped in an apartment in 1940s Houston, Texas with a controlling daughter-in-law and a hen-pecked son. Her fondest wish – just once before she dies – is to revisit Bountiful, the small Texas town of her youth which she still refers to as "home."
In order to beat inflation and subsidize their alimony checks, three suburban housewives plot to steal $1 million from a large plastic ball which is displayed in a local shopping center.
An aging motor-cross racer, already having lost his wife and daughter to his footlooseness and now about to have his semi-tractor cab repossessed, vows to make one last go of it on his bike in the race of his career.
A despondent Vietnam veteran in danger of losing his livelihood is pushed to the edge when he sees Vietnamese immigrants moving into the fishing industry in a Texas bay town.
To obtain a supply of a rare mineral, a ship raising operation is conducted for the only known source, the Titanic.