High-strung workaholic David Starsky (Ben Stiller) and laidback ladies' man Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson (Owen Wilson) are detectives who patrol the crime-ridden streets of Bay City, Calif. When the murdered body of a drug dealer is found on a local beach, Starsky and Hutch follow the clues to repeat offender Reese Feldman (Vince Vaughn). But time and again the mismatched cops fail to apprehend the shifty Feldman, while under their noses he goes about planning his biggest trafficking operation yet.