| Director | Jim Sheridan |
|---|---|
| Genre | boxing film, drama film, romance film |
| Runtime | 113 min |
| Country | Ireland, United Kingdom, United States |
| Budget | $4.7 million |
| Box office | $16.5 million |
Irish boxer and former Provisional IRA member Danny Flynn returns home to Belfast after a 14-year stint in prison at the age of 32. Disillusioned by the unbroken cycle of violence in Northern Ireland, he attempts to settle down and live a normal life. After meeting his alcoholic old trainer Ike, Danny starts a non-sectarian boxing club for boys in an old gymnasium.
While fixing up the old building, however, Danny finds a cache of explosives (Semtex) hidden underneath the stage. He throws the cache into the river.
Danny's action infuriates Harry, a cold-hearted, staunch IRA lieutenant. Danny reconnects with an old flame, Maggie, now married to an imprisoned IRA man and required by the IRA code to remain faithful to him.
Harry sees Danny and Maggie's relationship as a way to undermine the authority of her father, Joe Hamill, the gruff but pacifist local IRA commander campaigning for peace. Harry's harassment of Danny includes the assassination of the friendly police officer who donates equipment to the boxing club. The murder causes a riot at one of Danny's boxing matches. During the riot, the gymnasium is burnt down by Liam, the young son of Maggie, who thinks Danny and his mother are going to elope.
During another boxing match against a Nigerian boxer, Danny throws in his own towel, believing the other boxer cannot go on further. After seeing this on a TV broadcast, Ike and Harry get into an altercation leading to Harry killing Ike.
Later still, Harry and other IRA men kidnap Danny and take him away to be executed. In a last-minute twist, the IRA gunmen shoot Harry instead of Danny, thus eliminating a rogue agent. With her son Liam in the car, Maggie picks up Danny and they all drive away to start a life together.