A self-made, wealthy, black Pulitzer Prize winning playwright is mistaken for a robber as he is moving into his new home in an all-white neighborhood. In an effort to correct his blunder, the chief of police arranges a deal between the playwright and a white career criminal, in which an artificial hostage situation is created and quickly diffused, thereby repairing the damaged public images of both the chief and the playwright and promising to allow the criminal to slip out of town with no questions asked. However, nothing goes as planned and the two are then joined in a humorous look at the serious consequences of racism.