D.E.A. agent Shane Tanner (Johnathon Schaech), is the son of a legendary cooler named James Dalton (played by Patrick Swayze in the original film). Nate Tanner (Will Patton) is Shane's uncle, and the owner of the Black Pelican, a bar located in Nate's new permanent town of Tyree, Louisiana. Nate gets a call from his rival, who's nicknamed "Wild Bill", the former Black Pelican owner who has been trying to get the bar back. Wild Bill asks Nate to meet him at a pier, supposedly to discuss a truce. Nate goes to the pier and gets ambushed and beat up badly by Wild Bill.