| Director | Allen Hughes |
|---|---|
| Genre | crime film, drama film, neo-noir, political thriller film |
| Runtime | 109 min |
| Country | United States |
| Budget | $35 million |
| Box office | $34.7 million |
New York Police Department police officer Billy Taggart is arrested for the murder of Mikey Tavarez. Earlier, Tavarez was tried for the rape and murder of 16-year-old Bolton Village resident Yesenia Barea but avoided a conviction due to a technicality. Chief Carl Fairbanks goes to Mayor of New York City Nicholas Hostetler with a witness and evidence incriminating Taggart, but Hostetler buries the evidence. A judge clears Taggart as having shot Tavarez in self-defense. In a private meeting with Taggart, the mayor calls him "a hero" but still forces him to leave the police department.
Seven years later, Taggart is living with his girlfriend Natalie Barrow, an aspiring actress. His private detective business is on the verge of bankruptcy. One day, Hostetler contacts Taggart and hires him to investigate his wife, Cathleen Hostetler, who might be having an affair. With his assistant Katy Bradshaw, Taggart learns that Cathleen is visiting Paul Andrews, campaign manager of Jack Valliant, Hostetler's rival in the upcoming elections. At a fundraiser for Hostetler's campaign, Cathleen reveals to Taggart that she knows he has been following her and advises him not to trust Hostetler. Taggart gives Hostetler photos of Cathleen meeting with Andrews.
At the debut screening of Natalie's film, she reveals that her real name is Natalia Barea and that Yesenia was her sister. Taggart is shocked at Natalie's sex scene and strongly disapproves. Taggart begins drinking excessively; after an argument with Natalie, she breaks off the relationship. He receives a phone call from Katy and rushes to a crime scene to learn that Andrews has been murdered.
Taggart tells Fairbanks, now the commissioner, of his work for Hostetler. They learn that Valliant was in Andrews' apartment. Valliant reveals that Andrews was scheduled to meet Todd Lancaster, the son of Hostetler's wealthy benefactor, contractor Sam Lancaster. A furious Cathleen tells Taggart that Andrews was a close friend, not her lover, and had promised her information about Hostetler's plans for the Bolton Village Housing Project, expected to enrich both Sam Lancaster and the mayor. Hostetler wanted to discover Cathleen's source, so he manipulated Taggart into tracking her.
To investigate Mayor Hostetler for corruption, Taggart goes to Lancaster's construction business and finds workers destroying documents. Reading a portion of the discarded documents, he discovers that Bolton Village has been sold to build high-rise office buildings, rather than a new housing development, leaving hundreds homeless including Barea's parents and erasing graffiti in memory of Yesenia on a building wall while Hostetler and Lancaster profit. Taggart is pursued in a car chase by Hostetler's men, who run him off the road and take back the documents. Taggart then visits Todd Lancaster, who says he had intended to give a copy of the demolition contract - evidence against Hostetler - to Andrews on the night he was murdered, before giving it to Taggart. Taggart confronts Hostetler, who is unfazed, and reveals a video showing Taggart murdering Tavarez in cold blood. Taggart records their conversation of the mayor admitting to his own corrupt dealings.
Despite the risk of prosecution for Taverez's murder, Taggart turns the recording over to Fairbanks. While Hostetler is at home celebrating a successful debate, Fairbanks arrives to arrest him (and reveals that he is the lover of his wife). In the film's final scene, Taggart meets Fairbanks at a bar, and they toast to Valliant, who has won the election. Katy comes in to say goodbye before the two men leave the bar.