What happens when an ordinary man -- a man who considers himself unimportant, perhaps even anonymous -- chances upon a cloistered mountain community that hasn't seen a stranger since the Civil War? As the protagonist of Julian Po discovers, in such an insular place, even an unassuming bookkeeper can become a very important person, simply by being himself. In the film's darkly comic universe, however, the bookkeeper's newfound cachet proves to be something of a mixed blessing.

30-year-old Julian Po (Christian Slater) has no intentions of changing anyone's life, least of all his. He's simply taking his first vacation ever, driving to the one place he's always longed to go: the seashore. He has one suitcase and a new hand-held tape recorder, on which he is documenting his life even though, by his own admission, there's not much to document.

The uneventful landscape of Po's life changes when his car breaks down in the mountains and he treks to a small village, whose name has eroded from the signpost at its outskirts. Arriving in the no-name town, he takes a room at Vern's Boarding House, a building which, according to Vern (Michael Parks), is perpetually devoid of guests. He plans to bathe, sleep and retrieve his car the following day. But the next day, the car is gone.

Three days pass. There's no train or bus, no apparent way to leave the town. Po eats at the only restaurant, takes solitary walks, and sits alone in his room. He talks to no one, confiding his thoughts and observations to his tape recorder.

Despite, or perhaps because of, Po's extremely mild-mannered nature, the townspeople are suspicious of him. They track his every movement with increasing paranoia about his reasons for idling in a dull place where he doesn't know a soul. They speculate that he is a drug-runner, a murderer, a terrorist, a bomber. Finally, several prominent citizens, including the mayor (Harve Presnell) and the sheriff (Frankie R. Faison), corner Po in the town cafe. Their questioning escalates and Po's answers about his broken-down car and his seaside vacation go unheard. The townspeople are convinced that he has come to kill someone, and finally, to placate them, he blurts out that he came there to kill ... himself.

With that declaration, Julian Po's life changes irrevocably. Like a princess in a fairy tale, the town seems to wake from a deep slumber. The villagers embrace Po as a liberator, a savior. They express their deep admiration for his courage and principles. They make offerings of clothing and food, sexual favors and suicidal implements. They tell him their troubles, imputing to him a wisdom and clarity that he has never claimed to have. People like Darlene (LaTanya Richardson) and Potter (Zeljko Ivanek) overhaul their lives after talking with Po, who really is just being polite.

No one believes in Po more than Sarah (Robin Tunney), a beautiful, melancholy young woman who falls in love with him immediately upon hearing of his impending self-destruction. She tells him that she has been waiting for him all her life, and it seems she has. She passionately embraces him and his destiny.

For the first time ever, Julian Po is happy, loved and admired. But how long can this last? Even as his fame and power spread, the pressure builds on him to do what he said he came there to do. Events begin to spin out of control and Po finds that his words have gained a terrifying momentum.

Julian Po is a startling and offbeat story, told with the placid inevitability of a fairy tale. Chance brought Po to the tiny village in the mountains, but a few words changed his destiny forever.