One of top Northern Ireland IRA terrorists, Frankie McGuire, escapes to NY, where he, under the name of Rory Devaney, with support of friendly judge Peter Fitzsimmons, lives in the house of Irish cop Tom O'Meara, who doesn't know who Frankie really is. Rory tries to buy some weapons from dealer Billy Burke, while Tom has moral problems covering up his partner cop Edwin Diaz. The problems arise when Tom begins to suspect something about Rory's identity.

Brad Pitt wanted to leave the production, but was threatened by a lawsuit. In the February 2, 1997, issue of Newsweek, Pitt called the film a "disaster", and said that "it was the most irresponsible bit of filmmaking - if you can even call it that - that I've ever seen. I couldn't believe it". Rumors of fighting on the set (especially over which star would be the focus of the film) plagued the production. The original script was discarded and there were at least seven subsequent rewrites. Pitt said the final version was "a mess". "The script that I had loved was gone," he said. "I guess people just had different visions and you can't argue with that. But then I wanted out and the studio head said, 'All right, we'll let you out, but it'll be $63 million for starters."'

Edwin Diaz:
When are you gonna let me drive?


Tom O'Meara:
I don't know, tomorrow.


Edwin Diaz:
You've been saying that for three years.

Continuity: Supposedly set in winter in New York, yet scenes simultaneously feature snow and fully leaved deciduous trees.

(Theme From Rocky (1976))
Written by Bill Conti, Ayn Robbins & Carol Connors