In 1939, a group of African American intellectuals come up with an ingenious and unlikely response to Jim Crow America -- leave the planet and populate Mars. Using technology created by George Washington Carver, a three-person crew (plus one rambunctious robot) lift-off in Earth's first working spaceship on a mission that will take them to a world not unlike present-day America. Their spacey adventure illuminates some hard truths about American culture, and threatens to undermine the time-line of history along the way.

The movie opens as Johnny Thompson loses a vital MMA match in Vegas. Because of his unscrupulous dealings, he flees Vegas and returns to his hometown of Kansas City. Things heat up when Joe McCray, the bookie from Vegas, arrives in Kansas City with two of his lackeys to collect from Johnny. As this is occurring, Jason and Tom Perkins, a father son duo who operate a nail salon, are looking for partners to join in their daring bank heists after one of their partners is killed. Jason and Tom learn that Johnny, with whom they worked with years before, is back in town. They decide to approach Johnny with an "opportunity". Johnny agrees to join them, but the situation progressively deteriorates when the FBI and Joe McCray begin to suspect (with good reason) that Johnny is behind the bank heists. An array of characters enter the picture to complicate the plot, including: Eric Hoffman (a corrupt banker), Brennan (an amateur race car driver), Jason's wife, Johnny's son, Johnny's ex-wife, ... Written by David Tittone