When the law can't protect the innocent, the only hero left is an outlaw.
Sam Gillen is a thief who, despite his criminal past, is an essentially decent man; he ended up behind bars after taking a murder rap for his partner. Sam escapes from prison in a daring jailbreak, and he hides out on a remote farm while on the run from police.
A young boy named Mookie finds the fugitive and takes him in; it seems that the farm belongs to his mother Clydie, and soon Mookie and his sister Bree have become friends with Sam, and Clydie and Sam fall in love. However, Franklin Hale, an unscrupulous land developer, wants to buy Clydie's farm and isn't taking no for an answer. When Hale's thug Dunston tries to use force to drive Clydie off her property, Sam is ready to fight fire with fire.
Nowhere to Run was co-authored by noted screenwriter Joe Eszterhas; Richard Marquand received his story credit posthumously.