A Starman who approaches Earth's atmosphere is attacked by military aircrafts and forced to crash land on Earth. The Starman must find help in order to survive his ordeal and finds Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen), who has lost her husband and is drowning her sorrows in pictures and videos of him. The Starman takes the form of her lost husband (Jeff Bridges) by replicating his DNA as found in a strand of hair. When she finds him he convinces her to drive him from Wisconsin to Meteor Crater in Arizona where he must be picked up by his people. Along the way they chased by army agents under NSA Chief Fox (Richard Jaeckel) and a reluctant scientist Shermin (Charles Martin Smith). As they travel Starman learns to understand humanity through their experiences, and he also helps Jenny to understand himself.