When Nino, an Italian World War II POW in a Texan camp, receives word that his love, Zita, is set to marry another man in just 40 days, he vows to escape from the camp and return home before the marriage can take place. Idealistic and ambitious, Nino sets off on a breathless chase across the U.S. and is soon joined on his odyssey by an enigmatic Army lieutenant and a young prostitute. Together they face a series of extraordinary dangers, from wild forest animals to unexploded mines, and, as their journey progresses, Nino finds himself assailed by doubts and questioning his own motives - as well as those of the people around him. At once a romantic adventure and a thrilling wartime escape story, with a colorful cast of characters, this is also the story of a spiritual quest and a heartrending exercise in nostalgia.