As a favor to a friend, policeman Tom O'Meara (Harrison Ford) lets visiting Irishman Rory Devaney (Brad Pitt) stay with him and his family in New York City. Rory's visit is quiet at first, but when Tom and his wife, Sheila (Margaret Colin), return home one day, they're accosted by intruders. Tom soon realizes that Rory is in the Irish Republican Army. When it becomes clear that Rory's stateside trip is part of an effort to transport illegal guns to Dublin, Tom is compelled to stop him.