弗朗西斯卡（Meryl Streep 饰）的子女翻看母亲的旧信，揭开了母亲生前不为人知的一段动人感情。1965年的一天，弗朗西斯卡独自在家，最后一个牛仔——摄影记者罗伯特·金凯（Clint Eastwood 饰）把车停在她门口，向她打听曼迪逊桥的所在。她带他来到桥边，完 成工作 后他送她一把野菊花表示谢意。她的心中荡漾起难以言喻的滋味。她将一张纸条订在桥头，邀请他共进晚餐。欣然前来的他与她度过了美妙的一晚。此后2天二人整天厮守。 
　　但是弗朗西斯卡割舍不下孩子和世俗的幸福，罗伯特最终独自上路。几天后二人在超市门口有过短暂的一瞥，当时弗朗西斯卡强忍奔上前去的冲动，漫天的雨成了他们诀别的泪。 
　　1982年3月，她知道了罗伯特的死讯。在生命的最后旅程，她立下遗嘱：要子女们将自己的骨灰撒在曼迪逊桥畔，生前她把所有的时光都留给了家庭，但求死后能永远依偎在爱人的身边。

Robert: Tell me why you 're not coming with me ?
Francesca: How I keep turning it around in my mind-it doesn't seem like the right thing.
Robert: For whom ?
Francesca: For everYone. They'II never be able to live through the talk. And Richard.. will never be able to get himself all around this, it will break him in two-half. He doesn't deserve this, as he never rude anyone else in his whole life.
Robert: ( getting aggressive ) Then he can move on as people move!
Francesca: His family has been on this farm for almost a hundred years. Richard doesn't know how to live anywhere else. And the kids...
Robert: The kids are grownl You told me that they hardty talk to you.
Francesca: No, they don't say much. But Carolyn's 16. She's just about to find out about all this for herself-she's going to fall in love, she 's going to try and figure out how to build a life with someone.1f leave what does that say to her ?
Robert: What about us ?
Francesca: You've got to know deep down that the minute we leave here, everything will change.
Robert: Yeah. It could get better.
Francesca: No matter how much distance we put between us and this house, I carry it with me. And I'll feel it every minute we 're together. I will start to blame loving you for how much it hurts. And then even these four beautiful days won't be anything more than something sordid and a mistake.
Robert: Francesca, listen to me. You think what's happened to us happens to just anybody ? All we feel for each other were hardly...hardly to separate people now. Some people search their whole lives for this and never found it-others don't even think it exists. You are going to tell me that this is the right thing to do, to give it up ?
Francesca: We are the choices that we have made, You don't understand. Don't you see, nobodY understands when a woman makes a choice to marry, to have children ? In one way her life begins, but in another way it stops. You build a life of details, you just stop and stay steady so that your children can move. And when they leave, they take your fife of details with them. And then you 're expected move again only you don 't remember what moves you, because no one has asked in so long, Not even yourself. You never think that love like this can happen to you.
Robert: But now you have it.
Francesca : I want to keep it forever. I want to love you the way I do now the rest of my life. But if we leave we lose it. And I can 't make an entire life disappear to start a new one. All I can do is try to hold up so well inside of me. You have to help me.
Robert: Who is us ? Don't throw us away. Maybe you feel in this way, maybe you don't Maybe it's because you are in this house.
Maybe tomorrow when they come back, you will feel in different way. Don't you think it's possible ?
Francesca: I don't know.
Robert: Well, look, l'm gonna be here a few more days. We can talk it later. We don 't have to decide it right now.
Francesca : Robert. Don 't do this.
Robert: I don't want to say goodbye right nowl We hav6 to make that decision. Maybe you'II change your mind, Maybe we will see each other and you will change your mind.
Francesca: lf that happens, you have to decide. Because? I can't.
Robert: l'II say this once. I never said it before. This kind of certainty comes just once in a lifetime.

罗伯特：你不跟我走，对不对？
弗朗西斯卡：我反复思考，都觉得和你走不妥当。
罗伯特：对谁不妥当？
弗朗西斯卡：对谁都是。他们无法永远生活在流言蜚语中。还有理查德……也曾受不了这事，这会给他带来巨大打击。他不该德到别处无法生存，还有我的孩子…．．
罗伯特：他们都已长大成人了，他们不再需要你，你说过他们很少和你说话。
弗朗西斯卡：是的，他们话得不多。但卡罗琳只有1 6岁，她即将独立生活，她会恋爱，和别人构筑家庭生活。如果我离开了，会给她带来多大影响呢？
罗伯特：那我们怎么办？
弗朗西斯卡：你必须往深处想。从我们离开这里的那一刻起，一切都会改变。
罗伯特：是的，也许会变得更好。
弗朗西斯卡：不管我们走得多远，我都不会忘记这个屋子，当我们在一起的时候，我会感受到这屋子里的一切。我会责备自己爱上你，因为这造成了很大的痛苦，而这美好的四天也只不过是一场污秽和一个错误。
罗伯特：弗朗西斯卡，你以为我们之间已经发生的事会在任何人中间发生吗t?我们对彼此的感受很平常吗？我们如今已不可分了。有些人终其一生都在寻找这种爱，但永远也没找到，还有些人甚至认为它不存在。你现在想告诉我说选择放弃是正确的吗？
弗朗西斯卡：我们身不由己，罗伯特，求求你了。你不明白。你难道不明白，没有人会理解一个女人决定嫁人私生孩子的意义？从一方面来说，她的生活刚开始，而另一方面，她的生活又停止了。过具体的生活，成为母亲，妻子，你就得停下来，过平稳的日子，这样你的孩子们才能长大。当他们离开的时候，他们把你的琐碎生活也随之带走。别人期望你继续前进，只是你不记得你的生活动力是什么，因为很久没人问你了，包括你自己。你也没有想过这样的爱情会发生在你的身上。
罗伯特：可不管怎样你现在拥有了它。
弗朗西斯卡：是的，我想永远保持它，我希望终生都能像现在这样爱你。可是，如果我们一走了之，我们就会失掉这份爱。我不能使我的全部生活消失而去开始一种新的生活。我所能做的就是把我们的爱藏在内心深处，你必须帮我。
罗伯特：不要灰心，不要放弃我们的爱。也许你有这种感觉，也许你没有，也许是因为你在这个屋子里，也许明天他们回来的时候，你是另一种感受，你不认为有这种可能吗？
弗朗西斯卡：我不知道。
罗伯特：我在这里还会多待几天，这个问题我们可以再谈，我们不必马上作出决定。
弗朗西斯卡：罗伯特，不要留下。
罗伯特：我不想现在就说再见，但我们必须作出决定，也许你会改变主意的。或许我们可以达成一致，你会改主意的。
弗朗西斯卡：如果真是那样，你得做决定，因为我没办法。或许我们可以达成一致，你会改变主意的。
罗伯特：我只说这一次，以前从来没有说过，这样确切的爱，一生只有一次。