Anita's geography teacher gives the class an assignment to find a pen pal. Anita answers an ad from a convict in Chino prison looking for correspondence. Soon the prisoner, who is named Howard, and Anita become regular pen pals and fall in love through their letters. Howard finds an opportunity for parole when he attacks a fellow prisoner who was about to injure a prison guard. In light of his good deed, the parole board decides to look favorably upon him but in order to qualify for parole, Howard needs someone to give him a job.  Anita helps him out by convincing the town preacher, Hank Fulton, to hire him. Hank is not your typical preacher, he is a tough type.  He is a snake handling preacher who also operates a car garage. He becomes a sort of father figure to Howard who is looking to straighten up his life. Anita, however, is excited by the dangerous life and loves handling guns. Howard tries to put his convict past behind him but is pulled back in by Anita. After two violent incidents, Anita and Howard take off and go on the run in Bonnie and Clyde style.

Guncrazy is an interesting story and maintains an exciting pace throughout. Drew Barrymore and James LeGros give a very strong performance as Anita and Howard. They bring both sensitivity and excitement to their characters. Also noteworthy is Jeremy Davies as Anita's obnoxious classmate Bill. This is one of his earlier movie roles and he gives a fantastic performance.