Avery (Henry Thomas), Max (Sean Patrick Flanery) and two friends (Jay Mohr, Jeremy Sisto), all wealthy men in their 20s, kidnap former Mafia boss Charlie (Christopher Walken) in an attempt to pay the $2 million ransom on the unrelated kidnapping of Avery's sister. Their plan runs into trouble at every turn, and, with the help of Charlie's psychological manipulation, the men begin to suspect that one or more among them was involved in the first kidnapping.